


The Heart's Melody

by Cloakseeker



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Adulthood, Band, Comfort, F/M, Gen, Growing Up, Hurt, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:37:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 24
Words: 82,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5856193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloakseeker/pseuds/Cloakseeker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Series. Modern day AU. Tris and her friends start a band, Divergent, but don't tell any of their family members. They keep it secret to prove that they can be successful on their own. the story follows mainly Tris through her adolescence and into adulthood. Ups and downs along her way will shape her and transform her into a strong woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Missunderstood

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello my dear readers. It's CloakSeeker again. This is the new modern day AU Divergent fan fiction story I kept telling you about. The story might seem dull in the beginning, offering many facts about the characters and introducing them all at once, but I chose to do that because it is important to know which role each character plays and if you're anything like me you want to know who the hell is who int he story (I hate it when I read about a character in the first chapter and then he doesn't reappear until chapter 20 or so and i have no clue who he is).
> 
> I want to give special thanks to PMakepeace98, Hplcgirl and DivergentPansycake46 for agreeing to read this story first and share their opinions with me.
> 
> If any of you has ideas or suggestions please share them with me and if they fit into the story I might use them. Until then, please enjoy the first chapter.

Tris Prior was a teenager like any other. She was a girl. She was almost sixteen. She had a mom and a dad, a brother and a sister. She was the baby. She was highly misunderstood by everyone. She was a teenager after all. Aren't they supposed to be misunderstood?

Her father, Andrew Prior, is a very important businessman who built a multi-branch company from the ground with his longtime friend, Marcus Eaton. Natalie is a jewelry designer and together with Evelyn Eaton, Marcus Eaton's wife, they organize fundraisers and charity events throughout the city. However, their philanthropy doesn't stop there. The ladies often volunteer to help the homeless and not just on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but throughout the year. They often invited their children to help, which in Tris' opinion was translated in being forced to do that. Mr. and Mrs. Prior have three children: Shauna, their eldest daughter, who was a twenty-two year old psychology student, Caleb, their only son who was twenty years old and studied bio-chemistry and of course Beatrice, the youngest who would turn sixteen on December 24th, Christmas Eve. She hated her name. This is why very early Beatrice told everyone to call her Tris. Her parents still called her Beatrice, especially when they introduced their youngest child to friends or co-workers, but otherwise they respected her wish.

Tris' best friends in the whole wide world are Lynn, Marlene and Uriah. Lynn is her cousin, her father's brother's daughter, who is a minister. Lynn was sixteen already, turned two months before. She has an older brother, Will, who is the same age as Caleb. Mr. Joseph Prior, Andrew's brother, is a minister as mentioned and a widower. He often helps Natalie and Evelyn organize charity events, but is also very smart and bought stocks from his brother's firm. He is doing well and is well advised by the company's broker, courtesy of both Marcus and Andrew for Joe's loyalty and help throughout the years. Marlene was also sixteen and the younger daughter of the Eatons. She has also an older brother, Tobias, who is the same age as Shauna.

The girls have been BFF's since they were in diapers, inseparable like they were connected by a cord. When they were in junior high and went to the Band Camp, a camp for kids who were into music, they met Uriah. Well, they've seen him in the hallways, but he seemed way too cool for them, even though many kids wanted to be friends with the trio. Uriah and the girls quickly hit it off and he soon joined their group, who was as exclusivist as ever. Uriah has an older brother, Zeke, who was Shauna's boyfriend. Funny thing: Zeke and Shauna didn't meet because of their younger siblings' friendship. They met in college and soon after became a couple. Zeke is also best friends with Tobias, since they've known each other ever since first grade. Mr. and Mrs. Pedrad, Zeke and Uriah's parents, are owners of a bakery and despite many opportunities to expand their business they've decided to keep it small and friendly.

Like in many previous years the Priors invited their closest friends and their kids to celebrate Tris' birthday, much to Tris' misfortune. She hated celebrating her birthday, at least the way her parents did: a dinner party with all the adults and then all their kids who are much older than she is. Thankfully, her best friends were also there every year and she could sneak up into her room, which is the attic, but Andrew rebuilt it to be Tris' sanctuary, as she often put it. No one ever went up there and Tris was happy about that for several reasons: (a) it was always a mess; basically everything she owned was scattered on the floor or the railing of the stairs; (b) she hated it when people snooped around, that is other people than her; (c) she really didn't want mom and dad to find her secret pot stash. What could she say? She's a musician, they smoke pot, right? It's for inspiration.

It was almost four p.m. The Eatons, Pedrads and Priors were downstairs in the living room chatting. Ever since both her older siblings went to college they acted so mature, like they knew everything. Tris hated that. It was like some brain surgeon operated on them and made them lamer and dumber. And worst thing, her parents asked her to take an example. What? Did they really want her lame and stupid? Uh-uh, no way. Not with Tris.

She went downstairs wearing her most comfortable dress she could find. Her mom forced her to wear one. She said if she didn't then she wouldn't be allowed to go back to Band Camp in the summer. Tris reluctantly agreed and forced herself to smile.

The moment she entered the living room everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" (ruining the song by singing in false tunes and rhythm) and she pinched herself to stop the chuckle from escaping her lips. When they were done she had to go around and thank everyone for coming and whatnot. She first went to her Uncle Joe, then Mr. and Mrs. Pedrad, who allowed her and all the kids to call them by their first names, namely Michael and Hana, then on to Mr. and Mrs. Eaton or Marcus and Evelyn. After she was done she hugged her brother and sister and shook hands with Will, Zeke and Tobias. The moment everyone was greeted she grabbed her friends and ran upstairs to her room.

"God, I hate this shit," Tris said the moment the door closed behind her.

"Tell me about it," Uriah said getting rid of his tie. His mom made him wear one; said he looked more handsome with it. He couldn't disagree with that, but he still hated it. They plopped down on Tris' queen sized bed and lay there for a while.

"Don't you hate them all?" Lynn asked all of a sudden.

"I wouldn't say hate," Marlene said next to her.

"But yeah," Tris answered Lynn's question, lying between Marlene on her right and Uriah on her left.

"Why are they so bourgeoisie?" Uriah asked and Tris chuckled.

"Just because you learned a new word, Uri, doesn't mean you can use it whenever you want," Lynn said with a snort.

"What?" he asked confused.

"They are not bourgeoisie, maybe a little, but they are better than that," Marlene said to him with a chuckle.

"Whatever, man," Uriah said and got up. He went to the drum set and started a steady rhythm.

"Let's jam," Marlene said and hopped up and went to the keyboard and joined her friend. Soon Tris and Lynn picked up the electric guitars and joined the duo.

The four were typical teenagers from the constant frustration of being misunderstood to the attire they were typical. But God forbid someone told them that. They were musicians. They loved it, loved to listen to it, loved to make it, loved to create it out of nothing. They had their secrets that they didn't share with anyone but their group.

They were all the youngest in their own families. Sometimes that was okay, but most times they hated hearing phrases such "he/she is still so young", "take an example from", "enjoy this time, child". Ugh, nerve wrecking.

Tris wasn't tall, 5'1" rather on the smaller side. Everyone seemed to be taller than her and sometimes that really pissed her off. She wasn't ugly, but neither did she think she was some sort of "I would die for you" beauty. She had medium long blonde hair and the weirdest blue-gray eyes. She was rather skinny but she liked to run a lot so she was fit.

Lynn had very short brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She often used black eyeliner to highlight them, which in the girls' opinion made them even more mesmerizing. She was taller than Tris, about 5'5" and loved to wear washed out jeans and flashy crop tops with all kinds of slogans on them. Therefore, she hated when she had to go to church or some family gathering and wear anything that she didn't like, which was a lot.

Marlene was the girl in their group. To be clear, Lynn and Tris were also girls, but Marlene liked to dress like one, act like one, enjoyed the things any girl enjoyed, such as nail polish or talking about hair and shoes. She was as tall as Lynn but had long blonde curls and blue eyes. You could say she was the typical American girl next door. But appearances can be deceiving. While she didn't get in trouble often it happened on occasion.

Uriah was the only guy in their group but the girls wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He was the tallest of them, 5'8", had a chocolate colored skin and expressive light brown eyes that all the girls in their school hoped would look at them. He was quite the charmer and heartbreaker and was very picky when it came to girlfriends.

The four of them were so focused that they didn't even hear when someone entered the Sanctuary. It was only after he coughed a few times that Tris turned around abruptly and the moment she recognized the figure behind the bushy beard she put her guitar down and leaped into her uncle's arms.

"Uncle Cam," she said and hugged her mother's brother tightly.

"Woah, there, pumpkin. You're going to cut off my air supply," he said jokingly.

Cameron Williams wasn't often around. He lived with his son, Matt, in New York. But from all the people in his family he loved Tris the most, after his son of course. She was always such a bright, happy and creative person that made you smile even when you hit rock bottom. He saw her musical talent fairly soon and persuaded her parents to encourage her. At least this way she would have a hobby that would keep her from getting into trouble, at least not too much trouble, since Tris was always a little prankster.

"I've missed you so much, Uncle Cam," she said and kissed his cheek. He put her down and gave each of her friends a hug. They all knew each other since Cameron was the owner and organizer of Band Camp. They all loved him and called him Uncle Cam or just Cam, which he loved.

"I missed you, too, all of you," he said and the youngsters smiled. "Your parents wanted me to tell you that we're ready to go to church," he told them and they all scowled.

"Do we have to?" Lynn asked.

"Lynn, it's your dad's church and he'll perform the sermon," Cameron said to her. They reluctantly nodded their heads and joined the rest downstairs. It was okay with the parents that the four friends went with Cameron and Matt, since they all insisted to do that. The whole ride they sang Christmas carols at the top of their lungs and just had fun, fun like they wouldn't have had with their parents or siblings. Sometimes it felt like these four were siblings and they would have loved that.

As soon as they arrived at church Joe ushered them inside to take their places next to the rest of the children's choir. They all hated it when someone called them children. Just because they were younger didn't mean they were kids. The four of them deliberately stood in the back, avoiding looking at their families. They weren't shy or anything, they just hated how their families looked at them. Sure they were proud of their kids, but at the same time, and especially the mothers, looked at them like "put your shirt back in your pants", "smooth down your hair", "for God's sake, spit out that gum". Exhausting.

It seemed like the Christmas sermon took forever. Tris loved her uncle, but what in the world was wrong with spending Christmas at home?

When the service finally ended everyone went home and they promised to visit the Eatons the next day for Christmas lunch. Why did they have to go to these things anyway? Why couldn't they just spend Christmas or any holiday for that matter in their own homes? It seemed to Tris that her question would never receive an answer, or at least not a satisfying one. She vowed that when she would leave home she would (a) live alone or only with these three people she absolutely loved hanging out with and (b) stay at home for the holidays or at least not go to some stupid social event.

It didn't take Tris long to fall asleep that night. She was tired both physically and mentally and her warm bed was just what she yearned for that entire day.

The next morning she was woken up by her uncle and for once she didn't protest. Her mom usually came to wake her up, these being the only times when she came into her daughter's room. She had long given up on persuading her youngest child to clean up her room. Tris went downstairs to open presents with her family and afterwards they had breakfast together. It was a happy day for her, since Matt was there. He was the same age as Shauna, but he was way cooler than any of the other older kids. They both shared the same love for music and understood sarcasm and obviously shared it with her older siblings (in a derogatory way). You might think they would get it, but both Shauna and Caleb, who are both high achievers and super smart, never grasped it. Instead they went on and on explaining pro's and con's regarding whatever Matt or Tris just said. The latter would only roll their eyes and get on with it.

When the time came to go to lunch Tris was allowed to drive with her uncle and cousin, which was a huge relief.

"So, tell me, pumpkin. Have you thought about my offer?" Cameron asked her.

"You know I have and that I would love to, but I doubt mom and dad would say yes," she said a little sad.

"I can talk to them. In fact, Matt and I were thinking of moving to Chicago," he said surprising the girl.

"Really?" she asked hopeful.

"Yes. I wouldn't tell your parents about the musical career per se, just that I would like to keep the four of you preoccupied in the afternoons, keeping you from doing some new bullshit prank," he said with a laugh. "You know, all of them expressed their concern about how you kids are going wild. They kept saying that you should take an example from your older siblings and whatnot. I kept my mouth shut about how that would only block your creativity. Instead, I told them I would keep you busy," he explained.

"And what did they say?" Tris asked curiously to know the answer.

"They looked at each other at first, pondering about what I said, but then seemed to agree. They even went on how you kids could have recitals. Obviously, they think you all are into Mozart and Beethoven, not AC/DC and Metallica," he said and they all laughed.

After they arrived at the Eaton residence everyone greeted their hosts and went into the living room. They sat down and talked about all kinds of things, boring mostly, until Marlene politely asked her parents to excuse her and her friends. Evelyn nodded smiling and the four of them went into Marlene's room. Unlike Tris', Marlene's was clean and neat and all in all the typical girl bedroom.

They sat down, Marlene and Tris on the bed, legs crossed under them, Lynn sat on the desk chair while Uriah set on the floor. Tris told her friends about what Cameron had told her in the car and they all seemed just as enthusiastic about this like she was.

"Do you think our folks would allow us to do that?" Uriah asked no one in particular.

"I don't know, but I sure as hell wanna do it," Lynn announced.

"I think that would be awesome. Doesn't matter if we become famous or not. I just love hanging out with you guys," Marlene said.

"Me too," Tris agreed. "Besides, we're not doing it for the fame or money, we're doing it because we love it."

"Yeah, Tris' right. Who cares if anyone listens to our shit? We do it 'cause we want it," Uriah said and they laughed.

Soon Tobias, Marlene's older brother, knocked on the door and entered the room. Tris looked him up and down. She had seen him before, but she never noticed how handsome he really was. Too bad he was so old. The young man told them that lunch was ready and they should join the others. They nodded and followed him into the dining room. Tris sat down between Caleb and Matt and almost jumped onto the food, much like Uriah, when Joe started saying grace. Damn, she always forgot about that.

Lunch was delicious, but as expected boring. The adults and the wannabes kept talking about politics and business and some other bullshit that neither one of the youngsters cared about. Cameron, sensing the boredom of the four teenagers, spoke up. He officially informed them about his intentions of moving to Chicago and taking them under his wing, teaching them music. The four friends each looked toward their parents and they all nodded their heads smiling, but instead of hugging any of them the teenagers all jumped happy on Cameron hugging him and thanking him. The older siblings just shook their heads at the childish behavior.


	2. Teenagers have even more secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: i was asked about FourTris. Yes, there will be FourTris, but it'll take some time. This is basically Tris' journey. As you could see Tris is rather a typical tennager with typical teenage problems. While she is and will be put in difficult situations that will challenge her on many levels they are necessary for her to grow.

The next few months Cameron and Matt moved as planned and by late January the four friends started working with father and son. They got better and Cameron encouraged them to get out of their shells and be more creative. Each of them learned to play a new instrument. Tris already played the piano, violin and guitar and therefore decided to learn to use the drums. Marlene knew piano and cello and learned guitar, Lynn knew guitar and drums and learned piano, while Uriah knew piano and drums and learned guitar also. They were all happy and worked hard to not disappoint Cameron.

Matt studied music. He got a scholarship and went to Juilliard and graduated with high honors. He decided to join his dad, who was a successful musician, but lately talent scout. And it seemed that the latter found his new stars. Cameron asked them if they wanted to try solo careers or be part of a band, he would have helped them either way. The four of them decided to be a band and called themselves Divergent. Cameron organized a few gigs for them, obviously without the parents knowing about it. They wanted to be their own bosses and not babied around. To keep this a secret however they changed their appearances a little bit, as well as adopted stage names. That's how Tris became Shailene, Uriah called himself Keiynan, Marlene chose Suki and Lynn became Rosa. The others questioned her at first, but she then explained that her mother's middle name was Rosa. They nodded understanding that she missed her mom.

Tris was their lead singer, since she wrote most lyrics to their songs. Matt and Uriah often composed the songs together and even the three girls helped. They had a variety of songs in different genres that seemed to be liked by the general public. At first it seemed silly of them to dress up, but as they had a gig one night in late March Marlene spotted her brother and the rest of his friends, who were basically the siblings of her band mates, in the crowd. They were all worried that the older siblings might recognize them, but Matt was right. Under the flashy make-up and the colorful wigs and the sassy outfits no one recognized them. Divergent rocked the house for full two hours, the audience asking for encores over and over again. Lynn mentioned that even their tight up older siblings seemed to have enjoyed the show, whilst being oblivious that the band was actually their annoying younger family members.

"This band rocks," Shauna said as she sat on Zeke's shoulders.

"I love their sound," Christina chimed in, right beside her, but on Will's shoulders. Caleb and Tobias were there with two girls who they both started dating about the same time, but both knew that they wouldn't go out with them again. They complained the whole time and just didn't fit into their group.

"Dude, I'm so gonna rub this into Uriah's face next time I see him. I told him I would go to a rock concert and he wanted to come with me," Zeke started saying, but Tobias interrupted him.

"Why do you have to rub it in his face?" he asked.

"Because he things he is so cool and I'm lame because I'm older," Zeke answered.

"Same goes for Lynn," Will told them.

"And Tris," Caleb agreed.

"I guess Mar's okay with me being older," Tobias said about his sister. He knew that she thought he was a little lame, but they loved each other and always supported one another. After that they just enjoyed the concert and jumped up and down to the beat.

After they were done the four younger friends quickly gathered their stuff and hopped into the van. Matt drove them home to make sure they wouldn't get into too much trouble. If anyone would have said anything Matt would have taken the blame, saying they went bowling. It was a good thing the van was big because the four could easily change out of their clothes and remove wigs and make-up. This occurrence repeated itself several times during spring and Cameron surprised them with an important announcement. During their summer break, when they usually went to Band Camp, Cameron organized a few gigs in New York. Since they needed their parents' permission Cameron slipped a permission note in the files for camp that they had to sign anyway. When everything was signed the four of them were more than happy, some would say ecstatic, about the prospect of performing in the hottest clubs in the Big Apple.

On the weekend before camp started the entire group gathered for a barbecue at the Eaton house. Tobias helped his dad and Andrew with the grill, while Zeke, Caleb and Will set up the large table and the chairs in the backyard, while Shauna and a new girl, Will's girlfriend, helped with the food. The four friends strategically made themselves scarce, meaning they hid on the roof.

"I can't believe Al," Tris said to her friends. "How could he say that I sucked in bed?"

"Forget that douche," Uriah told her.

"I can't," she said and they all gave her a questioning look.

"Are you in love with him?" Marlene asked her.

"No, of course not. But he was my first. I do care for him. He was so upset when I broke up with him, that I told him he could tell people he dumped me," she said.

"That's pretty generous of you," Lynn said with a snicker.

"Yeah and after Peter and I hooked up he decided to tell people that he only dumped me because I sucked in bed."

"What did Peter say?" Uriah asked curiously.

"He punched him. I was so upset that he held me while I cried like a baby. I thought Al was different. Just because it didn't work between us doesn't mean I didn't care for him. Peter was so upset that afterwards he strutted around telling everyone what a bomb I am in the sack," she said with a small laugh.

"We know. We were there," Lynn said joining her.

"Are you going to tell Peter about Divergent?" Marlene asked.

"No. This is our secret. I can't stop you from telling other people, but when and if you do leave my name out. I want to make it in this industry without anyone knowing my connection to Factions Co. or my mom's business. That's why we agreed on using fake names, right?" Tris asked looking at her friends. They all nodded.

"I'm not telling anyone. The only people I would tell this to already know," Uriah said grinning.

"Me neither," Lynn assured them.

"I'm with Tris. Imagine anyone finding out that the daughter of Marcus Eaton is in a band. Outrageous," Marlene said and they all started laughing, but then they heard Zeke call for them.

"We better go before they send all our brothers up here to beat our sorry asses down," Lynn said and they laughed even harder.

The four youngsters joined their families, but made sure to sit close to each other. They were in their own little world talking about music and what they should change for their new songs, when suddenly everyone started clapping and congratulating someone. What the hell now? They looked up confused to see what was going on.

"What's with the fuss?" Lynn asked when people started settling down.

"Didn't you hear?" Christina, Will's girlfriend, asked them.

"Hear what?" Uriah asked.

"Your brother just proposed to Shauna," Hana answered her youngest son.

"What?" Marlene asked excited.

"Why would he do that?" Tris asked and every pair of eyes turned to stare at her.

"Aren't you happy for me?" Shauna asked her younger sister, a little disappointed.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean you're getting married not me," she answered not understanding what the fuss was all about.

"Leave her alone," Natalie said stepping closer to where her youngest daughter still sat down and hugged her as best she could. "She is still too young to understand romance," she said. "She will when she'll have a boyfriend one day."

"My baby is too young for that," Andrew quickly added and the adults laughed.

Tris shared a look with her friends and they all rolled their eyes. It was true; no one other than the four of them knew about Tris' romances, but she was far from inexperienced. She had two boyfriends before Al, she lost her virginity to him and was now Peter Hayes' girlfriend, who was quite the animal in the sack. So, all in all, Tris had a pretty good idea about romance. However, she chose to nod her head and keep all that to herself. She reluctantly got up and hugged her older sister, congratulating her. She fist bumped Zeke, saying it would be weird to hug him and then returned to her seat. The adults seemed to have decided to discuss the topic a little further, between ideas for the wedding and the lack of romance in their youngest children's lives the four friends were bored to death.

"No offense, but your sister is a little weird," Christina said to Shauna after the four teenagers left the backyard.

"She's not weird, she's just a kid. She doesn't understand love," Shauna said with a smile.

"And for what it's worth, they're all weird," Zeke said sipping from his bottle of beer and everyone laughed.

"I can't believe we're getting married," Shauna beamed and Zeke kissed her sweetly.

"Yeah, I can't believe you would marry his sorry ass," Tobias teased.

"Shut up," Zeke punched his friend in the arm.

"I think dad is glad Tris isn't interested in boys," Caleb said.

"You mean she likes girls?" Christina asked confused and her friends laughed.

"No, I meant she's still too young for that," Caleb clarified.

"I don't think she's too young. I started dating at that age," Shauna said.

"Besides she's such a cutie. I'm sure she has a bunch of admirers," Christina chimed in.

"I wish she would let me style her a little. She would find a boyfriend in no time," Shauna replied.

"Don't let dad hear you," Caleb said and they laughed.

Band Camp finally started and the four friends could finally be in their element. Cameron told the parents that there were strict rules that year and the kids were allowed to call home only on weekends. They seemed to accept that but only if they could call Cameron to check on them, which was fine, since he gave them his cell phone number.

For the following six weeks Divergent had gigs in various clubs in New York City, putting together track lists to fit the specific profile of the location. In some locations they were allowed to perform only three songs, in others they performed up to ten songs. The crowd was excited each time they played their songs and some even asked if they had an album. At that Cameron surprised the fans telling them there is an album on the way. Later, on their way back to the camp he told the four youngsters that he planned to make an album with them. He was very proud of their hard work and dedication.

When the new school year started and the four of them were juniors, they decided to use their free periods to practice some more. It was easy for them since it so happened that the last period was always free. They went to Cameron's where he set up a studio for them. It took them another two months before they started actually recording the songs, but they didn't mind. They rather had it done slowly but steady and make it their own.

Meanwhile, Shauna was in full wedding planning mode. Natalie, Hana and Evelyn tried to include all the girls, but only Christina was as enthusiastic about the wedding as the bride. Lynn and Tris looked appalled when they even dared to ask them. Marlene was okay with it, but the band had practice every day and she deemed that more important. She loved Shauna like a sister and Zeke was also okay, but other than that she had nothing much in common with them. Both Evelyn and Natalie frowned but each time they brought it up the girls got angrier than the time before. It even escalated one time, on Thanksgiving, when all the mothers requested the three teenage girls to be more involved.

"Mom, I don't give a shit about this fucking wedding," Tris yelled at the dinner table leaving everyone speechless.

"You apologize now," Andrew told his youngest daughter.

"No," she stubbornly said.

"Beatrice," he raised his voice. "Apologize to Shauna and Zeke and to your mother," he said louder.

"No. It's not my fault they fucking decided to ruin their lives with this bull crap. And as for mom or anyone else, I told you a million times I'm not interested in this shit. Leave me alone," she yelled and stormed out.

Since Thanksgiving dinner was held at the Eatons Tris got her jacket and left by foot. She pulled out her phone and called Peter, who thankfully came and picked her up. She had several dozen missed calls from her parents, her friends and her brother and sister. At some point she just turned off the phone.

Peter's dad came home from overseas, being in the army; he was always away on missions. He and Mrs. Hayes had a nice family dinner with their son and then headed out to spend some couple time together. Thankfully, they did so and Tris could spend the night with her boyfriend. He looked for some clothes for her and they went to bed. He didn't try anything that night since he knew she wasn't in the mood and he didn't want to upset her.

Peter's parents called him early the next morning asking if it was okay for him to spend the weekend alone. Peter was more than excited since it meant that Tris could stay with him a while longer. When he had offered her to stay over the weekend she happily accepted. She texted her uncle, however, letting him know that she was okay and where she was but asked him to keep it to himself. He knew how much she disliked how her parents treated her and was present when they had the argument. He called her right after he got her text and told her to stay put and that he would bring her some clothes over.

Cameron kept his promise and Sunday afternoon he came and picked her up and drove her home. Her parents looked conflicted, between being relieved that their girl was back home and being angry with her for even leaving. Tris ignored them and went up to her room, but not before she asked for her punishment. Her dad was the first to speak and told her she was grounded for two months. She wasn't allowed to go to any school celebrations, like the winter formal, which was okay with Tris since she wasn't looking forward to that, but when her dad told her she wasn't allowed to go over to Cameron's anymore she lost it and told them that she hated them. She ran upstairs into her room and angry with them she picked a few clothing items, her well hidden stash of money, grabbed her charger and snuck out of her room through the window. She managed to hide in Cameron's car trunk and didn't get out until she heard the car come to a stop. Cameron was upset with her but when he saw her red eyes and the lines on her cheeks from the streams she cried he hugged her. He promised her to not call her parents but it wasn't okay for her to run away. He wanted to make her go back the next day but she threatened to run away again if he made her go home.

Tris' parents were extremely upset when they couldn't find her later that evening, assuming she would just pout in her room. They started calling everyone, but no one seemed to have talked to her since Thanksgiving. When Cameron finally called them the next day, after he successfully avoided them the night before, he told them he would come over to have a word with them. To say the atmosphere in the room was heated and the shouts could have been heard by the Pedrads who lived across the street was an understatement. Andrew and Cameron yelled at each other, while Natalie cried, not understanding why her daughter hated them in the first place. Joe, who came the night before, tried to console her, while the two men kept yelling.

"You don't even know your daughter," Cameron yelled.

"And you do?" Andrew challenged.

"Enough to see when she's unhappy," Cameron countered.

"I won't allow my daughter to be this insolent and offend everyone around her."

"I agree with that. But did any of you care to ask her for her opinion? I know you two are happy that Shauna is getting married, but ever since Tris was little you compared her to her older siblings and never seemed to be proud of her," Cameron said, somewhat reducing his volume.

"That's not true. We love Beatrice and we're proud of her," Natalie said sobbing.

"And when exactly was the last time you said it to her? She isn't a mind reader, Nat. She is a brilliant musician. Did any of you know that? She is so sensitive and creative and all the craziness is just her way of rebelling. She wants nothing more than to make you proud and hear that you love her despite being so different from Caleb and Shauna."

"We love her. We never said we didn't," Andrew defended a bit forceful.

"Andrew, I think Cameron is right," Joe said to his brother and Andrew's eyes widened. "Tris is a remarkable human being, but she is different from her brother and sister. She is stronger and more confident, she is creative and she never backs down. She doesn't like to be just one thing and explores the world. I know you want what's best for her, but maybe you should listen to her every once in a while, see what she wants to do with her life," Joe suggested.

"I had to promise her that I wouldn't tell you where she is. She threatened to run away for real if I did," Cameron told them. Natalie gasped and Andrew sat down half defeated, half angry.

"How about Tris stays with Cameron for a while?" Joe asked them and both parents stared at the minister in disbelief.

"How could you even suggest something like that?" Natalie asked hurt.

"Nat, your baby girl is hurt, by you I might add. She feels vulnerable and unloved. Let her calm down, but more importantly show her that you love her. Don't force her to do things," Joe told them.

"She is still a child," Andrew argued.

"Whether you want to accept that or not, Tris has grown up. And let's be honest. Is Tris really a spoiled brat? She is helping out at home, she gets good grades, she stays out of trouble. She is well behaved. The reason that incident happened on Thanksgiving is because she was overwhelmed. Of course she loves Shauna and she's happy for her, even if she pretends not to be. I can take care of her for a while and guide her back home," Cameron offered.

Their discussion continued for another hour until Andrew and Natalie, albeit reluctant, agreed to this situation and Joe's proposal. Cameron drove home, hoping that his young niece didn't go through with her plan of running away and thankfully found her in the studio where she played the guitar, but by the way she did that he realized she was angry. He decided to give her the good news about her staying there. He always loved her like a daughter and was more than happy to take care of her for the time being. When he told her about this she started crying, why, he didn't know, but he held her until she calmed down.

On Christmas they all gathered at the Pedrads. Tris wanted to apologize for her behavior on Thanksgiving, but then didn't. She kept her distance from everyone except her friends and treated everyone very coldly, glacial even. Her parents were hurt by her behavior, but Joe and Cameron asked them to be patient. Tris still felt hurt and unloved. But as the night progressed and the guests sang "Happy Birthday" to the now seventeen year old, Tris started crying and left the house. Everyone gathered there had no idea what was wrong with her, well except for her friends. Peter was supposed to be there. Tris wanted to introduce him to her parents as her boyfriend, but instead he didn't show. Uriah went after her and together all four of them took Uriah's car and drove around for a while. The girls sat in the back and tried to comfort her, while Uriah texted Cameron where they went.

Tris started to be more and more depressed and even started to drink alcohol. When Cameron caught her so drunk that she barely managed to speak, let alone walk, he threw out all the booze and searched her room for anything else she might have hidden there. He kept it from her parents, but told her they would find out if what she did ever happened again. It didn't. Tris loved and respected her uncle too much to go back on her promise.

January was bumpy, but Tris started to feel better. It still hurt her and after confronting Peter she realized he was just not that into her anymore. It didn't really bother her that his feelings had changed, but his cowardice. He could have told her something, not leave her hanging and basically dumping her on her birthday. In some way that little tragedy helped her grow up, both as a person and a musician. The hurt she felt made her write beautiful songs, that Cameron decided to use on the band's second album. He decided to postpone releasing them since the break-up was still so recent.

And so it happened that on February 20th Divergent released their first studio album called "Growing Up". The album contained eighteen songs, all original. Matt was their musical advisor, while Cameron was in charge of representing them. They sold over three thousand copies in Chicago, New York and Milwaukee, the three places where they had gigs the previous year. But Cameron had more in store for the band, but it had to be postponed for the time being. Instead he sent out the CD to a variety of his friends from the East to the West coast, hoping for more supporters. The first call didn't take long.

In April the band was invited to L.A. to discuss working on a soundtrack for a teen movie. The moviemakers were impressed with all four of them and hired them on the spot. The money they earned wasn't much, considering it was a low budget movie, but at least their music would be heard. They received a general description of the movie as well as a set of scenes for which they had to write the songs. The movie wouldn't be released until the next summer, but the studio needed the songs no later than October. After the meeting was concluded the six of them went sightseeing and shopping, getting souvenirs for their families at home. Everyone back in Chicago knew that Cameron took them on a field trip and since the relationship between Tris and her parents was still hanging on a thread they allowed her to go.

On July 26th Shauna and Zeke got married. The ceremony was simple, held in Joe's church. Tris agreed to be one of the bridesmaids, but refused to be dolled up. Natalie agreed, trying to make her feel comfortable. Tris also agreed to spend some more time with her parents, usually on weekends when the three of them would do something together, such as hiking or baking or even building a birdhouse. Tris still preferred living with her uncle, but started spending some nights at home, much to her parents delight. The three of them often sat down in their living room talking casually and trying to get to know each other better, well Andrew and Natalie tried. To their surprise they learned that Tris was accepted early to attend the Juilliard School for Performing Arts. All four of them, meaning Uriah, Marlene, Lynn and Tris applied there and all got accepted, but she was asked to attend earlier and was given a scholarship. Tris, however, kept Divergent and the deal with the movie studio secret. She still wanted to succeed on her own and until that happened she would keep any success to herself, just like the other three would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thoughts?


	3. Into adulthood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi initiates. Thank you all for reading this new story of mine.   
> I will try to update every two-three days.  
> Enjoy the new chapter!

Senior year finally came and the four teenagers sighed in relief. High school would be over soon and then they would finally move to New York, away from all the high school drama back home. Tris was even more excited since she was expected at Juilliard starting summer. Cameron was already looking for an apartment for the four of them and since they signed a deal with a big record label and their first album started selling even better they really started to cash in. Cameron took them during the summer on a road trip; at least that was the official story.

Divergent toured the country from New York to San Francisco and became more famous after each new concert. When they arrived in San Francisco on August 27th the record label had informed them that instead of one concert there would be two. The fans went wild, they loved the band and their sound and since no one expected such a huge success the record label promised to send more copies to the local music store they were working with. Each fan, that didn't get a copy that night, should present the ticket and would get a CD plus a signed autograph.

Tris and her friends couldn't believe what was happening. However, for the time being they had to stay put. Once they'd start in New York they would be able to travel on weekends for concerts without having to find explanations to give to their parents. All four of them were very excited.

By late September Tris and her friends finished the songs for the movie. They wrote several songs, some scenes had even two or three to pick from. Cameron himself flew to L.A. to hand them over and check if everything was alright.

Peter tried to rekindle his relationship with Tris and after a failed attempt to have a date Tris finally got over him. She wasn't in love with him, but the fact that he was such a douche with her bugged her for months. At some point she even thought it was something she did or didn't do, albeit she couldn't figure out what. She didn't deny him sex, she hung out with him, she was okay when he told her that he would go out with his buddies. Basically, she was the perfect girlfriend. She wasn't clingy or pushy or bitchy so she couldn't understand what went wrong. But as they tried a second time she realized they were just too different.

Tris moved back to her parents. She knew she would leave them starting summer and wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. Their relationship got a lot better. They listened to her and she made a real effort to not be as rebellious as she used to be. She knew she was loved, but every now and then she felt jealous again. Yeah, she always had felt jealous because her parents seemed to love her siblings more. Now that she was older, and hopefully wiser, she could see that, that wasn't true.

For her eighteenth birthday Tris asked her parents to let her party with her friends, just the four of them jamming in her room, eating pizza and drinking some alcohol free beer. Natalie wanted to ask her to join them, have a nice family dinner since this year they hosted it and all their friends would come. Andrew however persuaded his wife to let the kids have fun. This would be their last time doing it as high school students and possibly carefree. Natalie accepted, but under the condition that they would come down say hi to everyone and eat the cake with everyone else. Tris agreed happily and immediately texted her BFF squad.

On Christmas Eve Uriah, Lynn and Marlene came early, since they wanted to spend the day watching Christmas movies, from the classic "It's a wonderful life" to the mandatory original "Home Alone" movies. By lunch they went into the kitchen where Natalie made them chicken soup, since it's Tris' favorite. After that they returned to her room where they talked, played board games and then jammed like they used to.

"My brother has a new girlfriend," Marlene told them when they paused, because Uriah had to pee, again.

"Okay," Lynn said, obviously not getting what that had to do with anything.

"Her name is Nita Alvarez, she's some sort of underwear model or prostitute," Marlene said while making a disgusted face. Tris chuckled.

"What is it? Model or hooker?" she asked.

"Might be the same in her case. Mom hates her and dad isn't too pleased either. I don't even think Tobias likes her that much."

"Why is he with her then?" Lynn asked confused.

"I think he wanted to make a point. Mom and dad kept saying he needed to find a girl to settle down with," Marlene explained.

"And marrying a model/hooker is settling down in your brother's opinion?" Tris asked with a laugh.

"No, but as long as he kept her close mom and dad would only mutter how she isn't what they want in a daughter in law," Marlene clarified.

"I don't even understand why he has to get married. He is twenty-four, right?" Lynn inquired.

"Yeah. But ever since Shauna and Zeke got engaged they kept bugging Tobias to do the same."

"What's wrong with our parents?" Tris asked. "The other day I heard mom tell dad that it would be so nice if Caleb would propose to Cara. They've been a couple for not even a year and mom already wants them married," Tris said scoffing.

"You think that's bad? Ever since Will asked Christina to marry him she is over at our house the whole fucking time, trying to convince me to go shopping with her," Lynn said letting herself fall backwards on Tris' bed.

"Forget the weddings," Uriah said coming in. "I heard Zeke telling the guys that they were trying for a baby," he informed the girls.

"They are fucking nuts. They are so young and ruining their lives already," Tris said.

"I think it's sweet," Marlene said.

"You can baby sit if you want. I don't like kids," Lynn said.

"Okay. Stop, guys. This is getting depressing. It's my birthday. Let's have fun," Tris said and hopped up. She grabbed her guitar and started playing it, soon joined by her friends.

At around five p.m. Andrew went to check on the youngsters who were cuddled together on Tris' bed watching "How the Grinch stole Christmas". He asked them what kind of pizza they wanted, since Natalie was about to make them and they all asked for different kinds: salami with pepperoni, cheese, Hawaiian and bacon with onion. By the time the movie ended Andrew and Cameron came up to bring the kids their pizzas and told them to come down in about two hours for the cake.

Of course, they lost track of time and Matt had to go up to get them. Together they went downstairs and the moment everyone saw Tris they started singing "Happy Birthday". Before Natalie brought out the cake Tris went around thanking everyone for coming and singing for her and obviously for the presents. She first went to her uncles and embraced them both at the same time. She then went to Evelyn and Marcus, followed by Hana and Michael. One by one she hugged her siblings, her cousins, her friends and then got to Tobias. He looked even more handsome than she remembered him. It must have been at least eight months since she last saw him. Damn, he looked hot. He hugged her, which wasn't unusual. They all grew up together and she being his sister's BFF was always treated like a sister as well. But somehow the hug felt different to her. He even lingered before someone cleared their throat. Tris looked from his mesmerizing dark blue eyes to his right where a tall brunette with a ridiculous small dress stared at her in disgust. "Ah, this must be the hooker," Tris thought to herself. She smiled cordially and Nita congratulated her saying that it's been a while since she went to a kid's birthday party. Tobias glared at her for that remark, but Tris was quick to come up with a witty retort.

"Well, I guess I would feel the same if I were twenty years older than the kid," she said and left before that model/prostitute could retaliate. She heard Tobias chuckle and Nita gasp, but she didn't care.

Natalie handed plates with cake and by the time everyone got a slice, the wonderful chocolate cake that Hana baked was gone. The four youngsters were allowed to make themselves scarce again and hid for the remainder of the evening in Tris' room.

Nita, being a friend of Cara's, grabbed her friend by the arm and started to bitch about how immature Tris is and that she didn't understand why Tobias would even go to a baby's birthday party. Cara was torn between agreeing with her and telling her to shut up. She loved Caleb and didn't want to upset him because of Nita. Nita wasn't even such a good friend of hers to begin with, but she was responsible for Tobias meeting her and implicitly bringing her here. Cara knew only a few things about Tris, mostly what Shauna, Caleb or any of their friends told her. She knew that Tris was the youngest and after last year's Thanksgiving she and her parents had a huge fight. But it wasn't her place to either comment or advice any of the Prior's. After all, she was just a guest and not part of the family.

On the other side of the room Tobias stood with Zeke talking casually when they observed a furious Nita dragging Cara to the side.

"You know what that's all about?" Zeke asked.

"Nita is pissed," Tobias said sipping from his bottle of beer.

"Why?"

"She was kind of bitchy to Tris and Tris, being her usual honest to the bone self, slapped her in the face with her retort," Tobias said with a chuckle and a huge smile on his face.

"What did she say to my little sis?" Zeke asked pissed that this wannabe diva offended his young sister in law.

"Nita said that she felt a little awkward being at a kid's birthday party since she hasn't done that in years at which Tris said she would probably feel the same if she would be twenty years older than the kid," Tobias explained and started laughing even more, joined by Zeke.

"Leave it to Tris to put a bitch like Nita in her rightful place. I don't even know why you're with her, man," Zeke said seriously.

"To piss my folks off. But to be honest, she's getting on my nerves. I didn't want to break-up with her over the holidays, but I think I'll end it tonight. Someone who can't be nice to someone else, especially on their birthday isn't a good person at all. I mean, she didn't even know Tris and there she goes insulting her. I know Tris is younger than us, but she is hardly a kid anymore. She is a young woman," Tobias said thinking of how much Tris had changed. He always saw her like a little sister, but lately that wasn't the case anymore. He actually fantasized about her occasionally but chastised himself for doing so. She was still a minor and he was better than that. Well, not exactly a minor, she was eighteen now, but still. However, that one time when he woke up from a wet dream clearly made him realize he didn't see Tris as a little sister anymore, but he also couldn't persuade a romantic relationship with the girl. She was six years younger than him, still a teen and would leave for New York once high school was finished.

Tobias kept his promise and broke up with Nita right after New Year's. He decided not to add more drama to his life and just have a fresh start in the New Year. Obviously, Nita didn't take it well and told everyone that she broke up with him because he just couldn't handle a woman like her. Tobias scoffed and just ignored her. He had better things to do anyway.

The following months passed seemingly with the speed of light and before the four friends new it graduation was around the corner. They occasionally had concerts on weekends, sold out stadiums actually, and became even more famous as time passed. The film studio was so impressed with their work that they decided to pick one of the songs as the movie's theme song and asked the band to make a video. In fact, the studio would pay for everything they just needed to come up with a concept. After talking to both Cameron and Matt they decided what they wanted to do and worked on an excuse to tell their parents. Thankfully, they graduated in a week from then and Cameron said he would fly them to L.A. to get outfits for the afterwards party held by the Eatons. The parents agreed, being happy that high school was finally over and the six of them, meaning Tris, Lynn, Marlene, Uriah, Matt and Cameron flew first class to Los Angeles.

The video was easily done and a huge success. As requested the band was allowed to keep their trademark appearance in the video and only their stage names were used on the soundtrack booklet. No one would know that Divergent were four teenagers from Chicago.

Then finally June 29th came and Tris left her hometown to start a new life in New York. For the summer Tris would live with her uncle and cousin until Marlene, Lynn and Uriah would join her permanently. She attended summer classes during the week and on weekends Divergent had gigs throughout the country. They became famous with each new concert and started receiving awards: best newcomer artist/band, band of the year, best song, best album, best ballad and video of the year. The movie for which they composed the soundtrack premiered on August 10th and the studio flew them in for the premiere. It was overwhelming for them being right in the middle of Hollywood's glitz and glamour but they all loved every second of it. They almost regretted having to leave, but they needed to head home. Tris had to attend a few more classes and then Will's wedding was just around the corner, September 9th.

Regular classes at Juilliard started in late September, but the four friends decided to be in New York at least two weeks before that. Tris was already familiar with some of Manhattan but the others weren't. Besides they wanted to decorate the apartment for them all to feel at home. Since the band did so well they all had accumulated a small fortune each and had enough money to buy whatever they wanted. But first things first, Will's and Christina's wedding.

Lynn was the only bridesmaid out of the three girls and she hated every second of it. Marlene and Tris tried to cheer her up, but failed. Lynn's frown could have started a nuclear war if she looked at the wrong dictator for too long.

The girls decided before they went home to give something to Christina and Will. They talked to Joe, who would officiate the ceremony, that right before he would give his blessing he would pause for the four friends to present their gift. They all looked for real gifts for the happy couple but Marlene suggested they should give them something special. And so they decided to sing "Marry you" by Bruno Mars.

Will and Christina both looked stunned to see the four youngsters taking the ministers place and hear the tune to the familiar song filling the church. The girls and Uriah sang the song, each with a huge smile on their faces. As much as they hated these family events where they were forced to be on their best behavior, they loved Will even more. And Christina, despite her flaws (talking and shopping way too much).

During the reception the four of them stayed together, Will and Christina made sure that they wouldn't get separated. It wouldn't have mattered anyway since they would have literally picked up their chairs and moved some place together. So, they decided to seat the four youngsters with the rest of their friends. However, they weren't really happy with that. Shauna was six months pregnant and kept talking about babies, while Cara talked about her engagement to Caleb. Nita was out of the picture, much too every Eaton's delight, but Tobias, Zeke and Caleb kept talking about something work related.

Factions Co., the company Marcus and Andrew built up, was basically a research facility for different branches. They divided their activity into so called factions. Erudite, obviously developed all kinds of products, but mainly pharmaceutical and some gadgets. Amity researched real estate and checked the impact on the environment. First and foremost, Factions Co. tried to preserve mother-nature and help her if necessary. Candor was their legal department, but the lawyers often helped environmental activists to win class action suits. Abnegation was Natalie's and Evelyn's favorite: they organized charity events and helped find jobs and housing for the homeless and unemployed. And then there was Dauntless. This faction had two purposes: (a) develop security programs and weapons and (b) train their own security personnel. That is why the Factions Co. building had their own state of the art gym, which most employees used, regardless of their faction.

Every now and then Tris noticed how Tobias was glancing her way, but she quickly ignored him since Uriah and Lynn had yet another argument. When one of the Latin dances came on Matt invited Tris to dance while Uriah invited Marlene. Lynn didn't like to dance, at least not like that. The four of them had fun on the dance floor ignoring everyone else around them, who by the way had no clue how to dance rumba, cha-cha or salsa. Tris noticed how Tobias kept glancing at her and she wondered why he did that, but she sure as hell wouldn't ask him for the reason. If he decided to be weird that was his deal, not hers. Finally, a slow dance came on and just as Tris wanted to return to her seat Tobias asked for the dance; she wanted to say no but the look he gave her made her swallow hard and nod her head. He took her right hand in his left and held her close to him, his left hand on the small of her back, while her left rested on his bicep. They gently started swaying and Tris was surprised how precise and yet delicate his movements were. He kept staring at her and she felt more and more uneasy.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" she asked surprising him a little.

"I'm not allowed to look at you?" he asked cocky.

"You're not looking, you're staring and it creeps me out," she told him honestly. It was the truth. Tobias Eaton never looked at her like that.

"I'm just reminiscing," he told her and she raised an eyebrow. "I remember how you were a little girl, about three or four years old. You and Mar played in the backyard of the daycare center our mom's took you guys when they had some charity event. I remember one time how I came with dad to pick you both up and while dad went to talk to the teacher I went in the back to look for you. A boy, much older than you two, started picking on you, but before I could even start walking toward you, you already beat him up and told him there was more where that came from," he told her and chuckled. Tris remembered it.

"He picked on us because I called him a dumb ape. So, technically I had it coming," she filled in the blank with a laugh. Tobias realized he loved her laugh and missed it when he didn't hear it. He still felt bad that he wasn't quicker to help the girls that day, but at the same time he was proud that Tris, despite her size and being a girl, was able to stand up for herself. Too soon the song ended and Tris returned to the table. Tobias was reluctant to let go of her hand and immediately missed her warmth. He knew it was wrong of him to have feelings for her, but he couldn't help it.

As the night progressed Christina gathered all unmarried girls to catch the bouquet. By some miracle Tris and Lynn managed to hide under the table without being seen and when Christina used the microphone to call for them Zeke ratted them out and they had to go closer to where the rest of the unmarried girls waited.

"Are you ready?" Christina asked. The girls all, but Lynn and Tris, yelled "Yes" and stretched out their hands to catch the bridal flowers. Tris and Lynn both took huge steps backwards but Christina threw the bouquet too hard and Tris caught it. The moment she realized that, she threw it at Lynn who stared at it shocked.

"You have it," Lynn said and threw it back.

"No, you have it," Tris said and threw it back to her cousin.

"You caught it first," Lynn argued and threw it to Tris.

"So? You caught it second," Tris replied and threw the bouquet back to Lynn.

"I don't want it," Lynn almost yelled, before tossing it to her cousin.

"You think I want it?" Tris asked tossing it back to Lynn.

"You know what?" Lynn asked and turned to look at the girls who actually wanted that stupid bundle of weeds. "Here, kill yourselves over it. We don't want it," Lynn said and threw it toward the group of girls.

"But you caught it," Christina argued coming to the two cousins.

"We don't want it," Tris said and Christina frowned.

"But it's tradition. Every girl who catches the bride's bouquet is getting married next," she explained to the younger girls.

"Did you?" Tris asked and Christina nodded.

"Ew, no. Take it back. That's so stupid," Tris yelled out making a disgusted face.

"See? I told you we should hide in the bathroom," Lynn scolded her.

"Next time we'll do that. Let's go wash our hands maybe the bad luck will go away," Tris said and grabbed Lynn's hand, dragging her to the bathroom. The entire room stared after them dumbfounded by what just happened.

"You owe me fifty bugs," Uriah said to Matt who muttered something before handing the money to him.

Tris and Lynn only hoped that by thoroughly rubbing their hands they would get rid of the wedding curse (they made it up in their minds that if they respect any wedding related traditions like catching the bouquet they would be cursed to get married too).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What did you think of this chapter?


	4. Going down the rabbit hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I was asked if I will go into more details about their music. Yes and no. I'm not a musician and I won't pretend to be extremely familiar with the industry. But on the one hand there will be some details about their professional lives, but it won't be the center piece of the story. I have written two songs, well just the lyrics, for this story. I hope you guys like them. It will take a while for you to actually read them, but I'll let you know. One of the songs, a ballad, is what is happening in this chapter.

Classes started and the four friends were excited, nervous, freaked out and a lot more. They came to the Big Apple two weeks before school started and made the apartment Cameron found for them their home. Each had his or her own room, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. Tris' room had a private bathroom and since all this wouldn't have been possible without her, the three friends decided to give their lead singer the master bedroom with the en-suite.

They loved it at Juilliard, despite how difficult some classes turned out to be. None of them ever backed down from a challenge. Divergent recorded their second album "Strong, Beautiful, Divergent" including the theme song for the movie. Cameron told them they would go on tour when they started their summer break and even planned for Caleb's wedding in June.

Tris found a new boyfriend. He was the same age as her and a well-known local lead singer in an alternative rock band. His name was Drew and Tris was head over heels in love with him. He was a rebel, just like her, he loved to write his own songs and create his own style, just like her, he hated social conventions, again, like her and he had a bourgeoisie family, just like her. His family couldn't understand his creativity and musical genius and so he decided to leave Boston, his hometown, and come to New York, because if he made it there he could make it anywhere. Tris was fascinated by him. It felt to her like she finally started breathing. The two of them spent every free minute together, but she kept her promise to her friends and didn't reveal their secret.

Time passed and Tris started changing. She was highly influenced by Drew who often took her to night clubs and bars. Tris was no stranger to weed, but one night, actually Valentine's, Drew took the now nineteen-year-old girl to a hot night club where they partied all night long. Or at least that's what he told her. Drew was no stranger to heavier narcotics and introduced Tris to them. She was reluctant to try out illegal substances like cocaine, but the look Drew gave her made her rethink her doubts and arguments. But since she was a newbie to it she had a blackout, and the next day, when she woke up, she found herself naked, cuffed to Drew's bed with him pleasuring her orally. She was not happy about that, but the way he handled her and made her feel good made her forgive him. She spent the day with him, never putting anything on and strutting around his studio apartment like God almighty created her.

It wasn't until she almost failed her musical history class with Eric Masterson that her uncle put his foot down. Eric called Cameron and explained the situation. Tris and Cameron had a huge fight and for a couple of nights she left the apartment and went to stay with Drew. Drew wasn't really happy about that, since he was in no mood to babysit his girlfriend who threw a tantrum because of her fight with her uncle. He invited her, however, to join him and his band to celebrate that one of his songs was played on national radio, but Tris didn't feel well. Instead of staying with her and taking care of her, the way a decent boyfriend should and would have done, Drew left her puking her guts out in his toilet.

Tris felt really bad and decided to watch a movie since she couldn't fall asleep. She wondered if Drew even had any movies. She took his laptop, which was on the coffee table, still turned on and looked for video files. But instead of finding movies she found something very disturbing. She was certainly no prude and occasionally watched porn to get off too, but Drew took this to a whole new level. However, that wasn't all she found there. There were numerous videos of him and her having sex. She watched them incredulously. How could he? How dare he film her like that? She watched disgusted as he repeatedly filmed them having sex, he even smiled at the camera and some videos were labeled "my hot girlfriend giving me a bj" or "wild thing" or "Uranus". She was disgusted. The nausea she felt before came back ten times worse and she had a very hard time breathing. As she looked through all of them she wondered why he would do that. And then she found a video file with her name on and marked "Valentine's Bang". Tris' blood ran cold when she saw the title. She didn't know if she wanted to open that file or not. Curiosity won over and she clicked it open. She recognized herself lying on the bed still in the outfit she wore on Valentine's and then three guys, one of them Drew, came into the frame. They undressed themselves first and then her. Even in her drunken or drugged state she saw that she knew that what was going on was wrong and even tried to fight them off. But they were stronger than her and grabbed her harshly. She remembered the next day seeing marks on her body but Drew assured her they had a wild night. Yeah, it was wild, brutal and humiliating. The three men took her over and over again despite her pleads and cries. Horrified, she watched herself being raped by the three men and tears ran down her cheeks. She couldn't believe it. Drew seemed such a nice guy, but all he was, was a liar and a rapist.

For the first half hour after she found those videos she just stared at the screen and cried. She couldn't remember a time she cried that hard. She couldn't remember a time she was so humiliated. She couldn't remember ever being hurt that much by someone who supposedly loved her. The strange thing was she couldn't remember the events of that night. She could only assume that Drew gave her something that messed with her memory. If she wouldn't had found the video she probably would have never known that she was raped, especially in such a vicious way.

She gathered her things and took the laptop with her. She didn't know where to go or what to do. She felt like she didn't deserve to call her uncle for help, since he often enough told her Drew was a bad person and a bad influence on her. And how could she face her uncle telling him that there are several sex tapes of her and a video of her being raped? She walked aimlessly through the night and pulled out her phone. She looked through her contact list to find someone to talk to. She wasn't ready to talk to either her family or her friends and the first name she found that would fit the bill was Eric. It was way past midnight but he answered nevertheless. They decided to meet in front of the school. Eric had his office there and they could talk, without making Tris feel uncomfortable. Eric only knew that Tris' boyfriend did something terrible to her and decided inviting the girl to his apartment would be wrong.

When Eric arrived he found Tris sitting on the stairs crying inconsolably. He sat down next to her and waited for her to calm down. She looked up at him through a curtain of tears. He hugged her tightly and let her cry some more. The air was cold, but he couldn't find it in him to move and disturb her even further. When she seemed to have calmed down he helped her up and they went to his office. Tris had no idea how to explain to Eric what had happened so she did the next best thing: she gave him the laptop and asked him to watch. He sat down at his desk, turned on the laptop, which thankfully was not password protected and looked at the file Tris mentioned. He soon realized that it was porn so he turned down the volume, but then he realized it was so much more. It was Tris. He looked up from the screen and looked at her stunned.

"Did you know?" he asked her, his voice shaking a little.

"No, I found out tonight," she told him sniffling. "There's one from Valentine's. It's the worst. He gave me cocaine that night and I don't remember anything," she told him and curled up in a ball on his uncomfortable couch.

Eric opened that video and looked at what those men did to the poor girl. He balled his fists and muttered profanities along with death threats. He liked Tris, a lot, more than a teacher should like a student and while they were both adults in the eyes of the law he was still five years older than she was and he was happy to just observe her from afar. What this bastard did to her was unforgiveable. He wanted to kill him, slowly preferably. He looked up and when he saw her vulnerable and scared he relaxed and decided tonight wouldn't be the night Drew would die. He carefully sat down next to her and she immediately hugged him, trying to calm herself down. Eric was more than happy to hold her since he secretly had fallen for the girl.

They remained in his office until the morning. Tris fell asleep during the night but Eric couldn't close an eye. He kept thinking of what happened and how this low-life could do something like that to anyone. He knew that it was his duty to report this, but he didn't want to do anything without talking to Tris first. He waited until she woke up and told her that they needed to go to the police. When she refused he told her that at least Cameron needed to know about what happened. She reluctantly agreed and Eric called her uncle.

Tris asked Eric to talk to him, while she went to play the piano for a while. Eric nodded, understanding that it must have been difficult for her to talk about it to her uncle who was like a father to her.

To say that Cameron had a meltdown is the understatement of the century. He yelled, he cursed, he threatened to kill Drew, but eventually he sat down on the couch and started crying. He always loved Tris like a daughter and to hear and see that she had been abused like that hurt him more than anything. He asked where his niece was, but Eric asked him to calm down first. She needed help, comfort and love, not more drama and hatred in her life.

It took Cameron a long time to make Tris even look at him. It broke his heart seeing this angel so hurt.

"Sweetheart, please, look at me," Cameron gently said as he sat down next to her. She kept playing the piano as if she was still alone in the room. It seemed she was hell-bent to ignore the world and maybe the world would ignore her and she could forget what had happened to her. "Tris, please," Cameron pleaded with her, but she shut herself down. It was like her body was there but her spirit had been broken. Cameron felt helpless on top of everything. How could he help her if she wouldn't talk to him? How could he do anything if he didn't know what to do in the first place? He wished that bastard would have been there so that he could squeeze the life out of him.

It took Cameron hours to make Tris talk and when she did she cried. She didn't talk much, but at least she wasn't as zoned out and lethargic as he found her.

Cameron decided to talk to his lawyer and Tris agreed to testify against Drew, but they also wanted to avoid a big trial. Tris didn't want her family to know about all that has happened to her and Cameron understood.

It took them several weeks to apprehend Drew, who vanished after that night. He pleaded guilty, the evidence being overwhelming and Tris had one of the best lawyers in New York. The case was closed and if any of the videos would appear on the internet, even after Drew's incarceration, he would be held accountable for that. He assured everyone that the videos on his laptop were the only ones. The two other men who raped Tris were also found guilty, but Tris didn't have to face them at all.

It took Tris a while to open up to her friends. They all wanted to kill Drew for what he did to her. They helped her as best they could, but all of them knew that she needed to talk to a professional. That's how Tris started going to a shrink. She hated it at first, but as the sessions progressed she opened up more and even talked about things she never spoke out loud to anyone. As reluctant as she was in the beginning, the happier she became in time thankful that she received and accepted help. Johanna Reyes was a wonderful therapist who with her calm demeanor and gentle voice made you feel accepted. Tris knew that it would take a lot longer to heal after what she went through and somehow she was glad that she was drugged when they raped her. She knew it sounded weird, but at least she didn't remember the act itself.

Divergent had to cancel some of their concerts due to Tris' mental instability. Neither her friends nor her uncle wanted to stress her out over concerts and other things that weren't too important, but as therapy went on and she found a new routine, Tris insisted to resume her work. Between school and working on new songs and concerting Tris was happy again. She and Eric became good friends, despite him having romantic feelings for her, to which she was oblivious at the time. He knew he couldn't and shouldn't push her, especially after what had happened and was happy to just be her friend.

The film studio that hired the band had a new job for them. This time a major blockbuster they were working on needed a powerful and fresh soundtrack. The band flew to L.A. to discuss the project and accepted the challenge. If they did good they would be hired to compose the score for all the movies in the young adult movie franchise. The movies were based on a bestselling book trilogy that had a huge fandom and all four of them knew what a big commitment and challenge that would be, but they were also excited to be part of it.

Finally, Caleb's wedding came around and the four friends headed back to Chicago. Thankfully, Cara didn't ask any of them to be a bridesmaid which the girls highly appreciated. The ceremony was lovely and elegant but this time Tris and Lynn kept their promise and hid in the bathroom until some unlucky broad caught the bouquet. They didn't want to risk a repeat from last year. After that they just enjoyed their time back with their families. They danced, they joked, they talked about school. Tris avoided talking about romances especially because Shauna and Christina asked and even Evelyn, Natalie and Hana started prying. Lynn and Marlene immediately jumped to the rescue and Cameron made it clear that Tris is too young to think of romance, when there's school. Andrew was more than happy to agree with his brother in law, while Marcus and Joe smiled at the interaction.

"But she's such a cutie," Christina kept saying.

"Yeah, dad. She's nineteen already. When I was nineteen I was already madly in love with this handsome fellow," Shauna said and kissed Zeke's cheek, who sat right next to her.

"What the hell don't you get?" Uriah asked angry. He knew what Tris went through and tried to change the subject once and for all. "She's too young, she doesn't want to. Just drop it and mind your own God damn business," he all but yelled. Everyone looked at him curiously, wondering what had gotten into him. He never yelled or got angry or at least not like that. He stood up and grabbed Tris' hand and stormed out. Lynn and Marlene followed shortly after and everyone stared at Matt and Cameron, waiting for an answer.

"What is his problem?" Shauna asked angry at her brother in law.

"He's right," Matt said sour. "You always do that, all of you. You never notice when Tris doesn't want to share or when she feels uncomfortable. You always try to force your opinions on her."

"That's not true," Shauna defended.

"Shauna, that's enough. All of you, enough," Andrew said sternly and even though they all had questions, even the parents, Natalie and Andrew learned to respect their daughter's privacy and let her come to them. After all, they had a far better relationship with her than ever before.

Later that night, after the four friends returned to their seats everyone seemed to have understood that there will be no more boyfriend talk. Matt asked Tris to dance a few times, trying to cheer her up. This whole talk about boyfriends really upset her and threw her back into a dark place. Her friends did everything to make her forget about it, but it was hard, especially that day when she saw how other couples were happy. They danced a few dances and when a slow dance came Tobias asked for it. Tris eyed him suspiciously but danced with him nevertheless.

"Seems like we only get to dance during weddings," he said with a chuckle.

"Maybe you should come to New York some time and I'll take you out dancing," she said smiling. It was the first time tonight she genuinely smiled. He wondered what was wrong with her. She was usually loud and witty, but tonight she was rather quiet and looked sad. And the way everyone defended her, especially Uriah. Tobias wondered if something was going on between them? Were they a couple? They didn't seem like it and Tobias got more confused. He wondered what could have happened for Tris to change so drastically. But he could tell she wasn't going to share so he didn't ask.

"Maybe I will. As soon as I find a moment of peace," he joked.

"Do you like your job?" she asked and looked at him.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know, sitting around in an office all day long, not my thing. But as long as you do what you love I guess it's okay," she told him.

"I am. I didn't think I would enjoy working at my dad's company, but I love what I'm doing," he told her honestly and just in that moment Tris squeezed his bicep a little sending a current of electricity through his body. She watched her hand continuously squeezing oblivious to the reaction she caused in him. His breathing became erratic and he swallowed hard. Over these past months he kept thinking of her more and more and each time he decided to visit her in New York he chickened out when he had to buy his plane ticket online.

"You've been working out," she commented, breaking him out of his daydream.

"Yeah," he answered. The song ended and Tris excused herself. He watched her as she went toward the restrooms and entered the ladies'.

He returned to his seat, once again missing an opportunity. He could have kicked himself for being so stupid. It wasn't like he was inexperienced; he had his fair share of girlfriends over the years, but if he looked back he never was that attracted to any of them. But none of them grew up right next to him and he never saw them as baby sisters or cousins, like he did Tris. But something changed. Tris was different not just from all the women he knew but from every person he knew. She was strong and confident, she knew early on what she wanted and worked hard to get it. He knew from his sister how hard it was to get into Juilliard and according to her Tris was one of the most promising students there. She was always creative, always an out-of-the-box thinker. She didn't oblige to social conventions and did whatever the hell she wanted. She would wear a PJ to church to make a statement or she would shave her head just because she could, she would give all the money she got from relatives for caroling to some poor kid on the street, just because he told her a funny joke. Tris never cared about money.

Tobias remembered the times when they were all kids and the dads usually took them camping for a few days just to get them out of the city. While Shauna always complained that she would rather hang out with one of her friends at the mall, Lynn frowning because she had to listen to her, the guys and he doing some fun stuff ignoring them, Marlene and Tris always went around exploring. Sometimes Marlene would get scared and stayed behind, but Tris never backed down from a challenge or dare. She loved to be free and being outside she was. There was no one to scold her for being too loud or too undressed. Lynn, Marlene and Tris used to run around completely naked until they turned ten or so, Tobias remembered. He reckoned that Mar only wanted to fit in, but Tris and Lynn always made sure that she felt comfortable around them. It was no wonder that those three girls were inseparable. They did absolutely everything together. Tobias admired Tris and each memory and each time they talked or touched or just glanced at each other he felt like there could be more.

But there was the age gap. Six years. He was sure Andrew wouldn't approve of him dating his youngest daughter, his baby. Of course, Andrew Prior lived under the false assumption that Tris was still a virgin, although Tobias had no information of it being otherwise. But come on. Tris was a beauty and so much more. She surely had a long line of admirers, Tobias being one of them. But she was still only nineteen, well nineteen and a half.

Too soon for their parents liking the four youngsters said goodbye and returned to New York. They only stayed there for a short while since they had a few concerts in the southern states before they flew to Hawaii to perform there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review. I would love to hear your opinions on this chapter.


	5. Figuring it out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi everyone! Just wanted to say a few things.
> 
> #1 I posted two-one shots. "A father's approval or how to not get Andrew Prior to kill Tobias" on Monday and yesterday "Three Little Birds".
> 
> #2 I will post a one-shot for Valentine's Day, like a special FourTris-tine gift from me to you.
> 
> #3 Yesterday I got my first tattoo. I'm Dauntless now. You can see it on my blog christiwind. tumblr. com (no spaces).
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter!

The four friends started their second year at Juilliard refreshed and with a long list of new songs for their third studio album. No one knew about them being Divergent and it was better that way. They could be still regular people without hiding from the paparazzi. Eric often invited them over to his place and helped them study. While he secretly sought comfort in having Tris around, he also liked the other three. They were all fun and very creative and for the first time he felt like he could have friends. His only other friend was Matt. They met when they both where students at Juilliard and while Eric wasn't a real teacher, just an assistant, he loved what he was doing and the students loved him. He was fun and being so close in age he was like their big brother or, for some girls, secret crush. But the only one he was interested in was Tris. He never told her anything, since she still had to recover from what happened with Drew, but Eric was content to be her friend.

The work on the new soundtrack went great. They sent out drafts and samples for the studio to check and were happy when their work was so applauded. They all had to admit that since they started school in New York they got a lot better and most of that was thanks to their new friend, Eric.

For Christmas Andrew and Marcus surprised their families with a weeklong trip to Aspen. Hana and Michael Pedrad, as well as Joe Prior, couldn't make it, but the rest of them were more than happy about the trip.

Shauna and Zeke got a double bedroom suite, one for them and one for their two-year-old son, Hunter. Despite not seeing his aunt and uncle much, the little boy loved Uriah and Tris the most, some might say more than his parents. The girls and Uriah each got a room in the large mansion they rented, slightly smaller than their parents', but they didn't care. Will and Christina, who was now pregnant with their first child, shared a room and during lunch the day they arrived Zeke and Shauna told their families that they were having their second child. Caleb and Cara decided to wait a while longer before expanding their family, since they just got married. Tobias was once again the target of his friends' teasing. They kept asking him about a wife.

"Dude, you're twenty-six years old," Zeke said and rubbed his wife's tummy. Tobias smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Zeke is right. You need to find a wife," Christina said.

"Could you imagine how cute those babies would be?" Shauna asked and the three women laughed.

Tobias couldn't deny that he thought about doing that, but he didn't find the right girl. He had a short relationship that year with Myra Jenkins, one of the best young lawyers in town, but it didn't work out. Every time he was with her he thought of another and at that point Tobias knew that he had fallen for his sister's best friend. The age gap was still there but now Tris was twenty years old. Maybe he should talk to her. But it seemed that Tris had no interest in boys or dating or anything like that. He watched her and her friends sitting by the fire playing their acoustic guitars and singing softly. He couldn't hear them and there was nothing he wanted more than tell his friends to shut the hell up so that he could listen to the woman (she no longer was just a girl) he was secretly in love with. Just then Natalie came to their table with a sleepy Hunter.

"What's wrong, baby?" Shauna asked her son.

"Bad dweam," he said, unable to pronounce the "r".

"Do you want me to sing to you?" his mother asked smiling and the little boy shook his head, making Shauna frown.

"Want Twis," he said and kicked his little feet to be put down. The moment he was standing he bolted toward his aunt who smiled warmly at him and kissed his cheek.

The little boy sat down on his aunt's lap but soon lied in her arms as she softly started singing to him. Unlike before the room fell silent. Tobias didn't know if it was to allow Hunter to fall asleep or because for the first time they heard Tris sing solo. They usually heard the four friends sing together and you weren't able to distinguish who sounded what like. But for the first time Tris sang alone and her voice was angelic. They all were mesmerized by the softness of her voice and yet powerful enough to send chills down one's spine. Tobias glanced around and realized he wasn't the only one who was captivated by the girl. When the song ended Uriah got up and got Hunter out of Tris' arms and brought him to his father who took him smiling. Zeke quickly left the room to take Hunter to their room for his nap.

"I had no idea your sister had such a great voice," Christina commented astonished.

"Me neither," Caleb said.

"I don't think any of you did," Cameron said and Tobias turned around, surprised to see all of their family gathered there and having watched Tris with the baby. "I hope now you understand what I mean when I say you don't know them, any of them," he said tilting his head toward the younger members of their families.

Shauna and Christina tried to persuade the youngsters to sing some more but they refused. Instead they went outside skiing and having a snowball fight. Zeke, Will, Caleb and Tobias watched them and wondered if it would be okay to join them. They always knew that their younger siblings were more comfortable within their group.

"You know, sometimes I feel jealous," Will said surprising the other three men.

"Jealous of what?" Caleb asked not understanding what prompted his cousin to say that.

"Them. I mean, we are friends but they are so much more. I can't remember a time they weren't glued together," Will explained.

"I know what you mean," Tobias said.

"I think it has to do with the fact that we're so much older than them and to be honest growing up I felt like Uriah was a pain. I love my baby brother, but growing up I avoided him and I think we all did with our siblings," Zeke said and the other three nodded.

As the four men kept talking the four younger siblings saw them standing there on the porch. They decided to invite them to their snowball fight in a way only those four could have. They each made big fluffy snowballs and each of them would hit his or her older brother. The four men weren't paying attention and got hit in the face by the snowballs. As they cleaned themselves they heard and watched the youngsters double over with laughter and soon joined them, which led to a snowball fight of epic proportions. They threw snowballs at each other, tackled each other down, ran after another. At some point it was unclear to them who was fighting who because Zeke and Will would chase Lynn, while Uriah and Tobias tackled Caleb and then Marlene and Tris laughed so hard they were out of breath. Seeing that the two girls weren't engaged in any battle Zeke chased after Marlene while Tobias chased Tris. To his surprise Tris was very fast even through the snow. Part of her therapy was physical exercise. Whenever she felt overwhelmed and couldn't talk to her therapist Tris would go out for a run or use the gym in their building to work out. Matt taught her some self-defense and she slowly but steadily got better. So much that she wasn't scared of going out buying tampons in the middle of the night anymore.

Tris ran toward the woods hoping she could get away from her pursuer but Tobias being taller and in better physical shape soon caught up to her. He tripped however and took her down with him. Tris turned around when she felt Tobias grab her arm but lost balance and fell on her derriere with Tobias right on top of her. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter. Tris leaned back and was lying on the snow covered forest ground with Tobias still on top of her. As their laughter subsided they kept staring at each other and Tris felt nervous all of a sudden. She wasn't this close to a man ever since Drew. Her heart started pounding and she wasn't sure exactly why. She was still scared of being with a man, but she was also nervous about the fact that she always had a little crush on her best friend's older brother. She was neither blind nor immune to his gorgeousness but she couldn't fathom he would ever be interested in her. He couldn't be. He always saw her as a little sister. His face was flushed just like hers, but she figured his was because of the cold air and the physical strain whilst hers because she was embarrassed for yet again thinking this handsome guy would actually like her as a woman. But was she even ready for something like that in the event he was?

His face inched closer to hers and she could feel is hot breath hit her cold skin. She thought that maybe he was leaning in to kiss her. Her eyes darted from his to his parted lips and lingered there for a moment until she was startled by someone calling her name. She realized that the situation they found themselves in was too awkward and grabbed some snow in her right hand and managed to throw it in Tobias' face, making him move and allowing her to move away from him. She stood up laughing, trying to hide her embarrassment and joked that he got sloppy. She ran toward Lynn who was the one who called her and they all returned inside the house. Tobias remained there for another minute looking after her and wondered if what he saw in her eyes was real or not. He could have sworn she wanted him to kiss her but then Lynn called her and she slipped away. Maybe she had similar feelings for him as he did for her, but once again he missed an opportunity. He could kick himself for that. No, he couldn't deny it any longer. He had feelings for her, real ones. Love maybe. But was it really that? He barely knew her. Maybe he was infatuated with the idea of her. There was only one way to find out if what he felt was real or just a fluke. He had to get to know her, the real Tris Prior and not what he thought she was like. But that would take time. However, if it was real it was worth it.

Like every year, they celebrated Tris' birthday the same way. They all sang "Happy Birthday" making her extremely uncomfortable. And of course there had to be someone to top it all by asking if there was any love in Tris' life.

"Yes," Tris answered immediately. Tobias' heart sank at hearing her speak up so quickly. Unaware of what that answer did to him, Shauna, Christina and Cara, as well as Natalie and Evelyn were excited to know more.

"Who is it?" Shauna asked excited. "I bet he is handsome."

"It's not a he," Tris said. Marlene, Lynn and Uriah barely kept it together.

"A girl?" they asked almost in unison, shocked about such a revelation. It wasn't like any of them was close-minded or anything, but it just took them by surprise.

"Nope," Tris answered with a huge grin on her face. It dawned on Tobias that she might mess with them all. She never liked it when people snooped around, especially in her business.

"But you said there was someone," Christina said confused and frustrated.

"There is, but it's neither a man nor woman. I'm in love with myself," she said. All but her friends, Cameron and Matt looked at her dumbfounded. They didn't know what she meant, but those who knew about Drew did.

A few weeks before Christmas Tris heard that Drew hung himself in his cell. Apparently, word got out among the inmates for why he was imprisoned and he received a similar treatment as did Tris once. She felt sorry for him and a little bit guilty when she learned of his death. Everyone, from Cameron to Eric, her friends and Matt, they all told her she had nothing to feel sorry or guilty for. He brought that upon himself. But it was only when she talked to Johanna that she processed everything. Johanna always insisted for her to love herself before anyone else. She was an amazing human being and she needed to see that for herself before she could truly love someone else. During therapy she realized all those relationships she had were doomed to fail and then did because she was too focused on pleasing the guy she was with. It all made sense to her and she decided before she would open her heart to another man she would first learn to love herself. Her friends knew about this and waited patiently for her to say the words out loud. The deal was she would only say it if and when she would be ready. So, it was obvious that their happiness was huge when they learned that their surrogate sister finally came out of the dark place she was in.

"I don't get it," Christina said confused.

"You don't have to," Matt said and went over to hug his cousin. The rest of them figured that it was something only a select few knew and knew from past experiences with the girl that she wouldn't share if she didn't want to.


	6. Visiting the Big Apple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I posted a short story named "Four times YES" as a Valentine's Day gift. Check it out.

During the Valentine's weekend Divergent released their new single, a romantic ballad written by Tris and inspired from what went down with Drew. She avoided his name or the word "rape" instead used words such as "master" and "slave" or phrases like "you couldn't see the woman I was", "you took without giving", "possessed me without earning" or "killed my spirit". The song was a huge success and Divergent was called to several TV shows or musical festivals.

Tobias went through with his plan, meaning he randomly sent Tris e-mails checking how things were going at school. He knew that if he started asking too many things she might get suspicious so he called his sister first. Of course, Marlene picked up that something was off; her brother rarely called and she couldn't figure out what the devil had gotten into him, which she told him. He rambled for a moment before he looked at the wallpaper on his laptop which was of them during the snowball fight. His dad took the picture just when Tris laughed at Tobias for slipping and landing on his behind. He smiled to himself at the memory.

"I looked over some pictures dad took when we were in Aspen," he told his sister.

"And you remembered you had a sister," she challenged teasingly.

"That's where I know you from," he said messing with her and she started laughing. He loved his baby sister. She was a gentle soul who would cut off her own arm to help others; she got that from his mom. "But seriously, Mar. I watched you and the others and Will mentioned that he was jealous," Tobias told her truthfully.

"Jealous of what?" she asked her brother confused.

"Of how close you four are."

"Well, we've known each other since we were kids and no offense, big brother, but I feel like these three are my siblings," she told him. He had that figured out.

"In any case, it made me realize that I barely know you and you are my sister. So obviously I barely know the rest. I know there is this age gap between us, but I think we should stick together," he told her, hoping she would agree. Until he could actually talk to Tris he would get to know more about her via his sister and at the same time be more in touch with Marlene.

"I don't know, Toby, we are a very exclusive group," she teased and he chuckled, but her words held truth in them. They barely allowed anyone in on whatever went on in their lives. He didn't even think his parents knew much about what happened in New York.

"Come on. You are adults now," he said.

"Yeah, but we're cool," she countered.

"And I'm not?" he asked amused.

"Nope. But it's okay. You're my big brother and I love you," she said and he smiled.

"I love you, too."

They started chatting more often, either on the phone or Skype. He randomly asked what the others were up to, how school went and one by one they all started chatting with him, often even all at once. He was the first to inform them that Caleb and Cara were expecting and Lynn of course teased him if he had a low sperm count and that was the reason he didn't get married and had a bunch of babies. Uriah and Tris laughed their asses off, while Lynn grinned at Tobias' dumbfounded expression and Marlene trying to salvage the situation.

"I just haven't found the right one for me," Tobias replied.

"You sure you can rule out the sperm thing?" Tris asked, her face split into a ginormous grin which made him smile as well but quickly put on a pouty face to fake hurt.

"Positive," he said.

It was from then on that Tris started talking more often to him, even without Marlene present. It was trivial at first and they were both comfortable. If he wanted to get to know her he needed to put himself out so that she could get to know him. Sure, they've known each other their entire lives, but not like that. Some days Tris and Tobias spent hours talking about everything and nothing in particular. Tobias shared things he never shared before with anyone and it wasn't just because he had feelings for her but because he could genuinely trust her. He sometimes sought advice from her regarding several topics and she tried to help him as much as she could. He could tell that it was still hard for her to open up and he wondered why. Sure they talked about many things, from hobbies to hopes and dreams. They even discussed vacations and where they would like to go.

"I always wanted to visit Egypt," Tris told him during a Skype session. Tobias didn't feel well and stayed at home. He called her to ask which fever medicine she would recommend, but hoped they would chat for a while. Tris had classes only in the morning so she told him to call her after lunch.

"We should go sometime," he suggested. He would have loved traveling with her, especially to an exotic country like Egypt.

"Yeah. I can already hear Lynn complain about the long flight, Marlene talk about the local cuisine, Uriah talking about visiting the local watering hole," she said and they both busted out laughing.

"Thanks for talking to me," Tobias said after he stopped sneezing.

"You are welcome. Besides I'm protected by the screen," she told him jokingly.

"You afraid I might get you sick?" he asked pretending to be offended.

"Well, duh."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you when you get sick," he promised, but meant it more than she realized.

"You have yourself a deal, Eaton."

Tobias informed them one afternoon that he would come to New York for business and would stay over the weekend. Since he and everyone else thought that the four youngsters lived in the dorms provided by the school he booked a hotel room for himself.

He was done with his meeting quickly and decided to surprise the four at school. He secretly hoped to get to talk to Tris alone for a while, but either way was fine with him. As he waited outside he kept staring at the entrance waiting for any of them to come out. He didn't text them that he was there, wanted it to be a surprise and if he was honest he enjoyed the quiet time on the bench despite the rather cool April weather.

Just as he checked his phone again for texts or missed calls he got a glimpse of someone coming out of the building. His heart started pounding in his chest when he saw the girl he hoped to see all day long. But the smile that crossed his face faded when a man came out with her. He was clearly no student and much older than she was. But what bothered him was the way they acted around each other. He casually held her around the waist when they came out, they smiled at each other and Tris laughed at something the guy said to her. Tobias felt jealous like he never felt before. He wanted to strut over there and remove that other guy's hand from his Tris, but then realized she was his nothing. She had absolutely no clue how he felt about her and even if she knew there was no telling if she felt the same. And even so, she would still be her own person and not belong to him. He bit the inside of his cheek drawing blood, but the pain was enough to keep him grounded and sane. When Tris stood on her tip-toes, being at least a foot shorter than the guy, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek, Tobias felt so many emotions at once that he felt like he was suffocating. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes willing that image out of his mind and the pain out of his heart.

"What are you doing here?" Tris asked as she came closer to where he was sitting. Tobias opened his eyes and stared at her. She bent down a little to be at eye level with him and smiled. He took a deep breath and answered her.

"I finished my meeting sooner than I thought and I figured I might as well surprise you," he said and to his surprise he kept his voice steady.

"Well, I'm done for today but the others have another class. Wanna get a coffee or something?" she asked still smiling. Tobias nodded and got up. He turned to walk away from the building when a small hand encircled his wrist. He turned his head and looked at her. "What? No hug?" she teased. He smiled a little and hugged her. But the moment she was in his arms he felt like he wouldn't be able to let go of her. Yeah, he wanted her, badly. And not just for a one-night stand but for longer and for more. They had several chats, often late into the night. He could tell that she still withheld information, but he figured that was because she didn't think he would be interested or like the fact she might have a boyfriend. "You can let go now. I think five Mississippi are way too many. People might think you are my out of town lover," she joked, but she had no clue how much he wanted that. Not just lover, boyfriend, whatever she wanted him to be.

He reluctantly let go of her and they walked together to a nearby café. He tried to listen to her, but all he could think about was that other guy and how he held her and how happy she seemed with him. Maybe he was her boyfriend and she didn't tell him or anyone back in Chicago to avoid the women prying. He knew how much she hated that, even without her telling. But he couldn't stop himself from asking the question that had been bothering him.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Tobias asked and Tris almost choked on her Latte.

"What?" she asked confused. She didn't mention anything about a boyfriend or a guy for him to jump to that conclusion.

"The guy, when you came out of the building there was a guy," he offers additional information realizing she didn't understand what he meant. She looked at him confused for a moment before she started laughing, a little loud actually.

"No, you dumbass. Eric is my history teacher and my friend," she said still laughing, but Tobias didn't think it was funny. If that guy was her teacher he had no business touching her like that. That was unethical.

"You shouldn't be so familiar with a teacher," he said before he could stop himself and Tris' laughter died that instant.

"Let me be very clear, Eaton. Eric is my friend and I only see him once a week as a teacher. He is helping a lot of students, male and female alike. He never once implied anything and he is a perfect gentleman. If you have a problem with that, well then that's yours to deal with. If you can't handle it that two people can be good friends without banging each other then I'm sorry for you. But if you imply one more time that he isn't professional I will personally beat the crap out of you and delete your contact information out of my phone and my mind." He watched her flabbergasted, not knowing what to say. Did he really misjudge the situation? He wondered if his own feelings made him see things that weren't there. Tris didn't wait for him to respond or even react in the slightest when she grabbed her bag and stood up, ready to leave.

"Tris, wait," he called after her. He couldn't let her leave without apologizing to her and explaining. He couldn't miss yet another opportunity. He quickly threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table and ran out after her. Tris didn't run, but she picked up her pace, trying to get as far away from Tobias as humanly possible. "Tris, wait," he called again. She stopped abruptly and he almost ran into her. "Please, let me explain," he pleaded with her. She walked over to a bench and sat down. She didn't look at him but he deemed it okay to sit next to her.

"Explain," she said and he took a deep breath. It was then or never.

"I thought he was your boyfriend from the way he hugged you and the way you smiled at him and kissed his cheek. I didn't see what happened next because I couldn't watch," he told her vaguely.

"Well, if you would have watched you would have seen that he went back inside and that was it. Since when is a kiss on the cheek a sign that a girl is a guy's girlfriend? I gave you kisses on the cheek and it didn't mean anything," she said staring at him, trying to figure out what that was all about. What she didn't realize was that her words struck a nerve and hurt him so badly he didn't even think possible. Her kisses meant nothing to her. Her words kept repeating in his mind, like mockery, like she mocked his feelings.

"To me they meant something," he said surprising them both. He didn't want to confess his feelings like that, on a bench, on a New York City street, surrounded by dozens of people running from one end of the street to the other. Tris looked up at him. For the longest time she wished he would say that to her. She would be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive, but she never thought he would be interested in her. But maybe she was over thinking this and he meant something else.

"What? What did they mean?" she asked hoping he would answer.

"I like you, Tris, and not just as a childhood friend or a sister or cousin. I like you as a woman. I've liked you for a long time now, but I never had the guts to tell you. I know I'm older than you, but you have been on my mind for a long time. I tried to fight it, I dated other women, but they were all flawed in my eyes; they weren't you," he kept talking, wanting to get it all out before he lost the courage again. He didn't understand it either. He wasn't usually shy but when it came to Tris he was just as nervous as a virgin teenager. "I thought maybe this is just infatuation or even an obsession, but the more I got to know you the more I liked you for you."

"What are you saying, Tobias?" Tris asked. She knew what he was saying, but she needed him to say the words to her. She needed to hear them loud and clear. After Drew she didn't dare to go near a man. She went once on a date with a drama student named Edward, but they didn't hit it off and another time she went on actually three dates with an architecture student from NYU. Jeff, his name was, seemed to be a nice guy and they really got along, but when he started to undress her she felt uneasy, like it wasn't right. She knew it was because of what Drew did, but the moment he took her bra off and left her in her panties she had a panic attack and grabbed her things, fleeing his apartment. She apologized the next day, but broke it off. She wasn't ready for anything physical and she wasn't sure if she was for anything emotional either.

"I want to be with you. Not just a onetime thing or casual like friends with benefits. I want to be with you, the whole package: dating, getting to know each other, finding common interests, exploring the other's hobbies, everything. I want to be your boyfriend and I want you to be my girlfriend," he told her. If it wouldn't have been for what Drew did she might have jumped up and down in excitement, but she was paralyzed. The only thing she could think of was to talk to her therapist.

"You should call Marlene and meet with the others. I need to go someplace," she said and left. She felt sorry for doing that, but she felt a panic attack coming and didn't want him to see that. She wasn't ready to share such sensitive information about herself with the guy that she liked. There was no way around it. Yeah, she liked him, but old scars started bleeding again and she needed to take care of them before they stained her emotional carpet again.

Tobias looked after her both confused and hurt. He didn't think she would react like that, but on the other hand he overwhelmed her with his confession. Perhaps it would have been wiser to go about it slower, but there was no turning back and he needed to go forward. As she suggested, he called his sister and told her that he finished his meeting. He didn't mention that he talked to Tris already, not knowing if she wanted to share this with her friends, although those four knew everything about each other. Tobias briefly thought of asking Marlene to explain why Tris was so reluctant to have a boyfriend but he reconsidered it quickly. How could she trust him if he would go behind her back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all for reading/following/reviewing this story.
> 
> Any ideas how Tris will work through her fear or what might happen between Tobias and her?
> 
> Is it futile for him to hope there could be anything between them?


	7. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours

Tris had to talk to Johanna. She needed her advice and guidance. She couldn't go to Marlene, because Tobias was her brother. Uriah would have acted all weird and interrogated Tobias, because he felt like he needed to protect his surrogate younger sister, while Lynn would have made an inappropriate comment and wouldn't have helped Tris at all. Matt was like her older brother and it felt strange to talk to him about boyfriends and Cameron became overly protective after the Drew incident. And as for Eric, while she told Tobias he was just her friend Tris wasn't blind. She saw how he looked at her, how he always sought her out, how he lingered. She never said anything to him. He must have had his reasons to keep his feelings for her hidden. But he was definitely not the person she should talk to.

She called Johanna's office the moment she was out of earshot. Thankfully, Johanna was free in half an hour and asked her to come to see her. Tris took the subway, since it was quicker than trying to get from one side of Manhattan to the other by cab. She arrived at Dr. Reyes' office just in time. Out of breath, Tris entered the all too familiar room and sat down on the burgundy colored couch. Tris loved how the therapist's office smelled like: cinnamon. It was one of Tris' favorite scents and always calmed her. She mentioned it during their first session when Johanna asked her what made her feel safe and loved and Tris started enumerating a few things, such as her acoustic guitar, her copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and cinnamon, because her mom always made her cinnamon cookies when she was sad. Tris always suspected that Johanna would light the cinnamon scented candle she got because of her.

"What brings you in here today, Tris? Did something happen?" Johanna asked as she sat down and took out her notepad.

"I need your advice. I know you're not supposed to tell me what to do, but I need your help to figure it out," Tris said in one breath.

"I'll gladly do that, if I can," she said smiling.

Tris started telling her about Tobias' visit and confession. They had talked about the six years older man in previous sessions and Johanna was the only one Tris ever told that she had a serious crush on him ever since they were young. She suppressed her feelings, because of the age gap, but lately, especially since they shared that slow dance during Will's and Christina's wedding her mind often drifted to him. She couldn't deny that she was attracted to him or that she often fantasized how it would be like to be with him. She even had a few wet dreams involving the tall, blue eyed man. She wasn't unhappy when she was with other men, not per se, and she didn't think much about Tobias when she was with someone, but even then he crossed her mind.

"Did you ever think that the reason why you keep fantasizing about him is because you see him as an ideal, like something you made up in your mind and think is good?" Johanna asked. Tris remained silent for a while, thinking of the question.

"No. I mean I always thought that he looked handsome and he is smart and funny, but I never really talked to him, you know like to an equal," Tris said.

"What do you mean equal?" Johanna inquires curiously.

"I mean, our relationship was always the same. He is the older brother of my best friend and six years older than me. He only talked to me during family gatherings and other than that he kept to himself or talked to people his own age or close in age, like my older siblings. I, on the other hand, always talked to my friends. We were always different or at least that's what I thought," Tris explained.

"Could you elaborate that last part?"

"Well, I was always into music and he was more, how shall I say it, technical. He liked computers and not just software but building them out of scratch. I always knew he was smart, but I never thought of him as creative or sensitive."

"How come you changed your mind?" Johanna asked.

"Well, he explained to me what he did at the firm. He basically created programs for computers to work better. Or at least that's what I got from that. But yeah, he is creative. It's not like you have a template for everything. You need to think out of the box and create something new to be better than others."

"Okay, that covers the creativeness. What about the sensitivity?"

"We talked about all kinds of things: books, music, movies. Despite not being too much into art he does understand it. For instance we talked about Walt Whitman's poems one evening and he totally got what Whitman tried to say with a particular poem, whilst other people, so called art enthusiasts barely scratched the surface."

"So, you're saying the Tobias you truly like isn't one fabricated but real and he developed similar feelings for you as you have for him," Johanna summarized.

"I guess," Tris answered unsure.

"Tris, I can't tell you what to do neither do I want to. Whatever you decide keep one thing in mind: no one will love you more than you do yourself. Be your own person and don't' try to fit someone's profile no matter the situation or person. Be who you are and don't be afraid. The person I've met a year ago doesn't exist anymore. You learned, you grew, you became the person you were meant to be. You made decisions based on what you felt you needed. Don't ever change that. You are the only one who will truly know what she needs, how much of it and when. If you decide to eat a slice of cheesecake, eat it. If you want a second, get another one. If you want to write a song about teddy bears, do it. If you want to write about war and death, do it. If you want to stay single don't be afraid to say no to a relationship. If you decide to be part of a relationship, no matter the nature of it than be part of it. But remember, you can only get what you give. If you go into a relationship be aware that you might get hurt or hurt your partner. Be aware that you both have secrets, some small others big. Be aware that trust is gained and build in time and is only as strong as we allow it to be. A step back isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can mean you want to reflect upon what you have, what you want and how you will get it. No matter what you choose, do it for you," Johanna told her smiling. Tris nodded. She learned so much since she started therapy and it was always a little less scary to go back out into the world. The session was over and Tris said goodbye.

On her way out of the building she called Marlene to see what they were up to. Marlene didn't answer, so she tried Uriah. The phone rang, once, twice, three times and no answer. Tris started to worry, when Uriah called her back.

"Hey, girl. Where are you?" he asked and Tris could hear the smile in his voice.

"Went to see Johanna," she told him.

"You okay?" he asked in a whisper, his voice much more serious than a moment before.

"Yeah. I just needed to talk to her. Where are you? What are you guys doing?" she asked, avoiding asking about Tobias.

"Having some grub with Tobias," he answered her. He gave her the address and she took a cab this time, since the restaurant was nearby and she didn't want to take the sub again. She arrived about fifteen minutes later and saw her friends laughing with Tobias at one of the tables inside the restaurant. She entered and before she joined them she hurried to the restroom to freshen up. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself. She looked herself up in the mirror. She wasn't ugly, but neither too pretty. She hated make-up or at least the tons of it a lot of girls put on. It was okay during concerts, but in her everyday life Tris preferred a natural look.

She had made up her mind even before she went to Johanna; she just wanted to go through all the motions again. She established very early a set of checkpoints to make a decision. It didn't really matter if the decision was good or bad in the end. The point of that exercise was to do something she wanted not anyone else. She took a deep breath and exited the restroom. She headed straight toward the table where Tobias and her friends joked around. He looked up when he noticed her and smiled kindly at her.

"Hey, there you are," Marlene said and smiled.

"Yeah," Tris answered and sat down between Marlene and Uriah facing Tobias.

"Do you want something to eat?" Tobias asked.

"No, thanks. I'm not hungry," she said looking at him. He only nodded. She needed to talk to him but with everyone around that would prove difficult. She couldn't just ask her friends to get lost; they would have demanded explanations. But she also couldn't wait too long, because she was afraid she might lose the courage to speak to him.

"So, as I was saying," Tobias started talking and Tris watched him carefully. "In July our dads will celebrate thirty years of Factions Co. The rest of us decided to throw a party for them and we wanted to ask if you wanted to help with organizing it."

"Sounds boring," Lynn said.

"Yeah, pass," Uriah said.

"What could we even do from here?" Marlene asked.

"You don't have to do much, just keep your calendars open for July 16th," Tobias told them.

"Maybe we could do something," Marlene thought out loud.

"Like what? Hanging decorations?" Lynn asked sarcastically.

"No. Maybe we could bake cookies," Marlene suggested.

"Cookies? We?" Lynn asked incredulous and Marlene nodded her head.

"Do you have amnesia or something? Remember last time what happened when we baked cookies?" Uriah asked.

"What happened?" Tobias snapped out of his trance. For the entire conversation between his sister and her roommates he kept staring at Tris and she kept staring back, none of them saying anything.

"We almost burned down the place," Tris said and looked at Marlene. "I think it's safe to say we will never do that again. Agreed?" she asked her friends and Lynn and Uriah nodded.

"Well, I'm going to try again. Daddy loves cookies and I'm gonna make them for him," Marlene promised proudly.

"You do that, but do that at your parents' house," Lynn said and Uriah and Tris laughed.

"Actually I wanted to talk to Cameron. I heard he is representing this new band that everyone loves, Divergent," Tobias said and their heads snapped in his direction. The four of them shared a glance. Tobias didn't seem like he knew that he was actually talking to the band right then, but it made them proud that he or anyone else would choose their band to perform at their dads' business anniversary.

"Did you talk to him yet?" Marlene asked her brother.

"Not yet. I wanted to meet up with you guys and then maybe we could ask him together. I mean I know the man and we get along well, but he loves you guys and I was hoping you could persuade him for me," Tobias said and put on a puppy dog face. Marlene laughed and Uriah winked at him, while Lynn snorted at how dorky Tobias could be. Tris watched him carefully, trying very hard not to stand up and walk over to him and kiss his full lips.

"We'll talk to him," Tris answered, surprising everyone.

"Thanks," Tobias said honestly. He didn't really know how to approach the subject with Cameron.

Tris couldn't take this anymore. She didn't want to tell her friends to just leave them, but if she waited any longer she was sure she would lose the courage to talk to him.

"I need to talk to Tobias," she said looking at him, trying to hide her nervousness. Her friends stared at her surprised, not understanding why she would want to talk to the man alone. Marlene, the most perceptive of them, figured it was best to leave the two to talk. If Tris wanted to share she would do that later when she got home. She usually did, so she didn't see why not give her friend the space she needed.

"Come on, guys. This is our cue to skedaddle," she said and stood up. Lynn and Uriah frowned but followed her example. They said goodbye and Marlene kissed her brother on the cheek and gave him a little hug. They would see each other later anyway. Once they were gone Tris stared at Tobias for a while before she finally spoke up again.

"There are things in my past you don't know," she said to him and he nodded.

"I figured. But there are some in mine you don't know about," he replied.

"Some are good and others are bad, like very, very bad. The kind of bad that would make you slit your wrists if you don't get professional help, like I did," she confessed. His eyes widened at that. He wondered what that bad thing could be that prompted her to seek help and would have made her harm, possibly kill herself. He nodded, indicating he listened and waited for her to continue. "Whatever I will tell you will remain between us," she stated, leaving no room for interpretation. Tobias nodded again. He wasn't scared by what she said, well maybe a little, but not to turn around and not give it a try with her. He really liked her, actually he felt more for her than just that, but it was too soon at that point to even think of that, let alone say it out loud and definitely not in her presence.

"Shall we start?" he asked. She nodded. "Do you want to go first or shall I?"

"You go. I'm sure whatever you have to say isn't nearly as freaky," she said with a smirk, but he could see in her eyes that the humor was meant to mask her pain. He wondered what caused it and if he could help her.

For the next couple of hours they told each other about their former relationships, their duration, the impact it had on their lives, as well as the reason for the split up. Tobias had his fair share of girlfriends, not exaggerated but still. He was somewhat surprised to hear about Tris' amorous past. She told him about the two guys before Al, how she lost her virginity to him, well not the details, just the fact that she did. She told him about Peter and finally shed some light upon her reaction on Christmas Eve when she turned seventeen. She left out Divergent because that secret belonged not only to her but also to her friends. She told him that coming to New York she had a few dates that led nowhere and some that led to one night stands that she mostly suspected happened because she had a serious buzz going on when they occurred. She told him she wasn't proud of that, but she wouldn't lie about who she was and what she did. She told him she dated a musician, but left out anything else. She told him about the two other guys after Drew, too.

"There are two major secrets I haven't told you about," she said seriously looking him straight in the eyes. He nodded and she continued. "One is a very good thing that I'm proud of, but I can't tell you until I speak to the gang," she said and he looked at her confused. He wanted to ask if they had a pinky swear that prohibited her to tell him, but she quickly clarified. "The secret is only twenty-five per cent mine," she said grinning. So, they all had the same secret. He smiled, although he didn't really know why. "The second secret is something that happened to me after I turned nineteen. It was something very bad and I am in therapy since. I'm better, but to be honest, right now I don't have the guts to tell you the details. I will, eventually. Can you accept that?" she asked him hopeful. He obviously wanted to know what she meant but he also knew that if he pushed her she would stop talking to him altogether. He could be patient and if it really was something bad enough for her to seek out a therapist than he could see how she needed time to gather the courage. She probably needed to see if she could trust him, too. They might have known each other for years, but they were never close to have that kind of trust in each other. But he was looking forward to the day they did. He nodded his head confidently and she smiled.

After that he told her a few more things about his past and soon they shifted from ex-lovers to hobbies. She was pleasantly surprised to learn that they shared a few interests, like running, reading, sci-fi movies and traveling. They talked before but that was the first time they did it face to face.

"So, are we dating now?" he asked a little hopeful.

"Not yet," she said and he frowned. "Stop frowning," she said to him and smiled. "For us to be dating you need to take me out on a date, doofus," she used one of the names she called him when they were younger. He couldn't help the grin on his face and nodded.

"Let's go," he said and got up, startling her a bit.

"Now?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah. I want to date you and be with you, all the way and whenever you are ready for more," he told her reassuringly.

She looked at him for another moment before she smirked and got up. Tobias left cash on the table, enough plus tip for the waitress and they headed outside. But as they exited the restaurant they realized they had no idea where to go or what to do.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, hoping she would help him out.

"You asked me out," she said teasingly. He gave her a look that said "come on". She laughed and grabbed his hand. It felt right, her hand in his. It was a feeling he craved for a long time and he wondered if she did the same. She did, but it would take a few more dates to get that out in the open.

They ended up at a movie theater and Tobias laughed a little at the cliché choice for a first date. Tris argued that it didn't matter how cliché that really was, considering how they got there and what lied ahead of them. They picked a science fiction movie, bought popcorn and sodas, as well as some Milk Duds. They picked two seats in the back and waited for the movie to start, but since they arrived early they had another fifteen minutes to spare before the movie even started. They knew there were some heavy topics they still needed to talk about, but for the time being they did everything they could to avoid them. Their conversation was cut short when the movie finally started and not twenty minutes later Tobias reached out for her hand. She placed hers in his after a brief look and they remained that way for the remainder of the movie. It proved a bit difficult to open the Milk Duds box, but they worked together as a team and laughed at their own clumsiness, gaining them some dirty looks from the people sitting around them.

"I think we might have made a few enemies in here," Tobias suggested while whispering in her ear. Tris shuddered but managed to compose herself. She was really, like freakishly, attracted to him and she wondered if they would ever get to the bedroom stage of their relationship.

In the same moment as Tris turned to reply to his earlier comment he turned too and they stared at each other. The light from the screen wasn't much, but they could see each other fine and Tris swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. Her gaze traveled for a split second from his eyes to his lips and before she knew it their lips connected. Neither knew who leaned in first, but in that moment they didn't care. The chairs next to them were empty, not many prefer the seats way in the back. Tobias clumsily put his drink and popcorn on the chair next to him while Tris did the same with drink and Milk Duds box. They kissed fiercely, like teenagers who never got to kiss their high school sweetheart and needed to make up for lost time. And maybe that's what it was. They both could have given this a shot a long time ago, but it never seemed right.

Tobias knew that if they continued like that he wouldn't have been able to control himself and he really didn't want to embarrass himself not only in front of her but anyone in that movie theater. He reluctantly pulled back and rested his forehead against hers breathing in her scent, a huge smile on his face. How long had he been dreaming about this moment. Admittedly, it could have been more romantic or at least more illuminated but he was glad it happened nevertheless. He kissed her lips again, but it was chaste and closed mouthed. She looked up at him and smiled.

"That was one hell of a kiss," she said and he grinned before nodding. They snuggled together as best they could in the uncomfortable theater seats. When the movie finally ended they left the theater and Tris decided to head home. Tobias wanted to go with her, apparently wanting to make sure she got home safely but Tris refused. She asked him to trust her and that she would call him later that night.

"Just so you know, the gang will be informed of this," she said gesturing between them. Tobias chuckled, figuring she would do that.

"Would have surprised me if it were otherwise," he replied.

"Is it okay if we don't tell our parents? I mean, I love them and all and I'm not ashamed or anything, but you know them as well as I do. They overreact and then this," she said and repeated the earlier gesture, "becomes their playground and I don't want that."

"I understand. Until we figure things out we keep this between ourselves. I'll even keep it from Zeke," he added before he embraced her and kissed her again. They parted breathless but grinning.

"That would be better. I love him, but he can't keep his mouth shut and if Shauna knows then Christina knows and when that happens Planet Earth knows," she said and they both started laughing. That was so true. They finally said goodbye and Tris took a cab back to the apartment, while Tobias took another one to the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What did you think? Review please.


	8. One down, one more to go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading this story. Each story is close to my heart and means a great deal to me. With each new chapter of each new story I grow as a writer and thanks to your constant input I learn and become better. A great shout out to all of you who encouraged me from day one. I bow my head in front of you.
> 
> <3 CloakSeeker 

Tris returned to the apartment and as expected her friends waited for her in the living room. Lynn and Uriah played one of their video games while Marlene tried to bake cookies again, the fire extinguisher close by. Tris chuckled at the sight.

"Hey guys," she said, letting them know she was home. She went straight to her room to change into some comfortable clothes and returned to the living room where Uriah's character just killed Lynn's leading to him jubilating and her frowning. Marlene came into the room with a plate of chocolate chip cookies and set it down on their coffee table. It wasn't like Mar didn't know how to bake or cook, but she often got distracted and forgot about her previous task, which unavoidably led to small mishaps in the kitchen.

When Tris sat down on the couch, Marlene sat down in the armchair and the two who played the video game turned around since they were sitting on the floor in front of the TV and faced now the couch. They all were curious why Tris asked them to leave, especially so directly and why it took her so long to come back home. They didn't text her because they knew that even if her meeting with Tobias concluded she would have wanted to be left alone. It became their thing that Tris would text or call them to let them know she's fine, unless she wanted or needed some space. And given that she told Uriah she went to see Johanna they figured that something must have triggered a memory or something and she needed to sort through it before she could share it with her surrogate siblings. But the waiting was killing them and as expected Lynn was the one to urge her to speak.

"Spill it, sis," Lynn said and Tris chuckled.

"Tobias and I went on a date," she told them leaving them with their mouths hanging. She knew that would be their reaction but she chuckled nevertheless. They were always honest with each other and never talked around the topic. They went straight to the point no matter what it was.

"Excuse me?" came from Marlene, who stared at her friend. Tris didn't think that Mar would mind her dating Tobias, but it was a bit of a shock for the three.

"Tobias asked me out and I said yes," she explained.

"Just like that? Out of nowhere?" Lynn asked, trying to understand the situation.

"He came to the school earlier and we started talking and he, well, he told me he liked me, not like a sister, but a woman and he would like to date me," she told them, a little shier than before. Obviously, she dated before, but with Tobias it seemed different. Different good, definitely, but still different.

"What does this mean?" Uriah asked.

"What?" Tris asked confused by his question.

"Are you two together now?" he asked further.

"I don't know yet. I mean we just talked after you left, shared some stuff and then went to a movie. It wasn't a big deal, but we had to start somewhere," Tris said with a little smile.

"But are you okay?" Marlene asked. The question was so much more than it would have appeared to the bystander. They all knew how difficult it had been for Tris to open up to men again. Her last date was almost two months ago, with that architecture student and Tris told them what happened. Or rather what didn't.

"I'm not there yet, Mar, but I trust Tobias. Not just because I've known him my whole life, but because I have a good feeling. I won't rush things and I told him there are things he doesn't know. I told him there are two major secrets that I have, one good and one bad and I asked him if he is okay to wait until I'm ready to talk about them."

"And what did he say?" Uriah asked.

"He agreed," Tris said smiling.

"But isn't it weird. I mean he is older than you," Lynn said.

"So? Eric is one year younger than Tobias and you all encouraged me to go out. I told you I can't see him as more than a friend and I don't want to hurt him. He was so supportive when that shit with Drew happened. I was always honest with him and I told him I can't date him. He accepted that and we stayed friends."

"What next?" Uriah asked and the girls all looked at him. "You told Tobias you had two major secrets. Are you going to tell him?"

"If I want to have a relationship with him than he deserves to know in what he's getting himself into. I thought, I mean if you are okay with that, we could tell him about Divergent. I told him that one secret isn't completely mine and he figured you guys are involved. We promised to keep this to ourselves, but I think maybe it's time we share this with our families. We are all adults now and they can't ground us or anything. They might get pissed, but frankly I want to show them all that despite their concerns and constant nagging we did our own thing and now we're one of the hottest bands in the country," Tris said proudly. They all had every reason to be proud. Their albums sold at a menacing rate, concerts were sold out for months ahead, they received dozens of awards, everyone knew them and even their own families thought of Divergent as the right band to perform at such an important event like their dads anniversary.

The three remained silent for a moment, each pondering upon the implications of revealing their secret. They decided to vote.

"You know I want to tell Tobias," Tris said and they nodded.

"I want to tell him, too," Marlene said.

"I guess I'm okay with it, but I'd like him to promise to keep this to himself. I would like to tell dad and Will," Lynn said and they nodded.

"Uri?" Tris asked.

"I'm okay with it, but like Lynn said, I wanna tell my folks."

"Alright. So it's decided. We'll tell Tobias," Tris said with a smile.

"Should we tell Cameron and Matt about this?" Lynn asked.

"Yes," Marlene answered and the other three agreed. She went to get her tablet and skyped Cameron. The moment he answered he smiled upon seeing all four of his protégées staring back at him.

"What's up, kids?" he asked.

"Uncle Cam, we have a question," Tris said a little nervous. She always considered Cameron like a second father and it felt weird to tell him that she was interested in a boy. Well, not a boy, a man.

"Okay, go ahead," he said still smiling.

"We talked and decided to let Tobias in on our secret, you know, let him know about Divergent," she said and waited for her uncle to reply. He looked at her a little surprised at first, but then found his voice again.

"Tobias? Why?" he asked confused.

"Well, we kind of started dating and I want to tell him," Tris said shyly. Cameron looked at his niece. She usually just informed him when she wanted something or when she dated a new guy. He couldn't recall a time when she was that shy while telling him about a boy. But did she say Tobias? Tobias Eaton?

"Tobias Eaton?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah," Tris answered shortly.

"Isn't he too old for you?" he asked.

"He is only six years older. Your dad was eight years older than your mom and they lived happily together," Tris said before she could stop herself. She didn't mean to imply marriage or anything so ordinary, it just slipped out. Cameron knew her well and knew the point she tried to make. The example she chose, whether she figured it or not, meant she was actually considering a long term relationship and even marriage. He never pushed her or even suggested it, like her parents liked to do, but he knew that eventually she would like to settle down. However, he didn't know if Tobias was the right person for that.

"What are the rest of you thinking?" Cameron asked the others who remained silent throughout the conversation.

"I want to tell my brother, but we all agreed that he should keep this to himself until we decide to tell the rest of our families," Marlene informed him.

"Does this mean you plan on telling them sometime soon?" Cameron inquired.

"Well, the original plan was to become successful on our own and we managed that," Lynn said.

Cameron remained silent for a while. He often wanted to tell his sister and her husband and the rest of their friends for that matter, but the kids wanted to keep this a secret and he respected their wish. But it happened that sometimes, during family gatherings such as Thanksgiving or Christmas that the parents commented how good it would be if their youngest offspring would choose a more stable career path than music. To a point he had to agree. The musical industry has always been brutal, but they loved what they were doing and on top of all they were really talented. Even if they decided to break up the band they would all have a bright future in the business. Lynn showed remarkable talent in finding new talents and opportunities. Sometimes she pointed out a kid at school who had potential and then Cameron approached that student or she saw a business opportunity and it turned out to be very lucrative. Marlene was very patient. Cameron could easily see her teach youngsters. Uriah, despite being sometimes crazy was a fantastic drummer and guitarist and whether he chose a teaching job or form a new band or join an already existing band he could always find a job. And as for Tris even if she wouldn't appear on stage anymore her work behind it was remarkable. The songs she wrote and lately not just for Divergent but other artists became number ones and stayed there often for weeks. Her work on the soundtrack for the teen movie was a revelation for Cameron. She had more potential than he figured at first, but he wasn't surprised either. She was always creative and disciplined when it came to music. The soundtrack she composed together with Matt for the movie trilogy sounded fantastic and he was sure more awards would be in this girl's future. He was confident that whatever these four would choose they would do something they loved and live a good life.

"Alright," he finally said. He wanted to ask Tris if she was sure about dating the older man, but he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't go for it if she wasn't sure. And he was confident that Tobias wouldn't hurt her. He knew the boy for just as long as he knew his niece Shauna. And in any case Tris needed to find her own path without anyone interfering. Which reminded him. "Tris, are you going to tell your parents about dating Tobias?" he asked curiously.

"Not yet. We want to see where this is going. We haven't really talked about it, but I'll ask him to keep this between us," she answered.

"Alright. Whatever you need, I'm here for you, pumpkin. All of you," he said and looked at all four of them. Over the years those four kids became his in a way and he couldn't have been prouder of them.

After they finished talking to Cameron Tris wondered if it would be too late to call Tobias over to let him in on their secret. It was almost eight p.m. They could have dinner at the apartment she thought to herself.

"Hey, guys," she said. "What do you say if we invite Tobias over for dinner?"

"Now?" Uriah asked.

"Yeah. Why not?"

"Can't wait to see your Prince Charming again, can you?" Lynn teased and Tris threw one of the couch pillows at her cousin.

"I think it's a good idea. I'd love to spend some time with my brother," Marlene agreed happily.

"Alright. Let's go get some food," Uriah said and Lynn and Marlene went with him. They decided to get pizzas, the band's favorite food, while Tris called Tobias. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey, Tris," he said and she could hear the smile that must have been on his face.

"Hey. Did you eat?" she asked directly.

"Not yet. Was about to order some room service. I wasn't in the mood to go out and eat by myself," he told her.

"Wanna come over?" she asked and realized that she really hoped he would agree.

"Are you sure? Isn't there a rule that strangers aren't allowed in the dorms after eight p.m.?" he asked confused.

"There might be one, but we don't live on campus," she told him. There was silence for a moment and Tris thought the connection broke down. "Tobias?"

"I'm still here. If you're not living there, where are you living then?" he asked curiously.

"I'll text you the address. Take a cab and call me when you're downstairs," she told him.

"Okay." They hung up and Tris was excited, like freakishly excited to see him again. She hasn't felt like that in a long time, maybe even before she came to New York. The only time she could compare this feeling to was when she became Peter's girlfriend. But this was different. She was even more nervous. Should she have changed clothes? Should she have taken a shower? There might have been time, but what if Tobias would have rung on their door and she would have been still in the shower? No, the clothes she was wearing had to be enough. But it wouldn't have hurt to stash the mountain of clothes and other crap she had on her bedroom floor into the closet and spray around some refreshing scent. Just as she finished with her room and bathroom her phone rang. She grinned when she saw his name and ran to the door while answering her phone.

"Tris, I'm where you send me, but are you sure this is the right address?" he asked confused. She could understand him. They had this gorgeous apartment with view over Central Park, one of the most expensive apartments in the area.

"Yeah. Just hit the Penthouse button in the elevator," she told him. She could hear him mutter "Penthouse" and then a beep went off and she knew he was coming up. She hung up and opened the door standing in her doorway waiting for the elevator door to open and reveal the object of her desire. Tris figured that Uriah and the girls left so that Tris could reveal the truth about their living quarters and probably give them some time alone before they all would eat their dinner together.

Tobias stepped out of the elevator, he was dressed in dark blue jeans, black leather shoes and tight black tee shirt and a leather jacket to keep him warm. He smiled when he saw her and picked up his pace to finally hug and kiss her. He never felt this anxious in his life and he never had a girlfriend that meant so much to him. Although, she wasn't really his girlfriend, yet. The moment he was right in front of her he cupped her face and kissed her tenderly. Tris snaked her arms around his middle, effectively pulling him closer, while he held her face still with one hand and let the other arm encircle her small frame. She was shorter than him, about a foot, but he reckoned she fitted perfectly to his body. He could easily hold her in his arms and protect and shield her form all the bad things in the world and nothing would go past him. They parted when air became an issue and he rested his forehead against hers and smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he smiled that much in one single day, but he couldn't care less.

"Hi," she said almost in a whisper.

"Hi," he replied the same way. They remained another minute just like that, in each other's arms before Tris invited him in. She took his jacket and deposited in the closet next to the entrance and allowed him to explore the apartment. "This is where you guys live?" Tobias asked flabbergasted. He didn't expect something like this. He knew that his parents sent Marlene money, but he didn't think that much. While their family had the financial resources his parents never wasted it on meaningless goods and taught their children from a young age to appreciate what they had and how difficult it was to obtain it.

"Yeah. Neat, huh?" Tris asked amused by his reaction. Tobias looked around and saw the Divergent posters and awards. His eyes widened and he turned to look at her.

"I didn't know you were such fans of the band that you would put up all this fake stuff," he said and she chuckled. She was well aware that one could buy about anything on the internet including fake awards made of plastic that looked just like the real deal. Tobias looked at her confused.

"We're not fans," she said vaguely and stepped closer. "We are Divergent," she added and Tobias' jaw dropped. Thankfully, the couch was right behind him and he sat down, while Tris sat down on the coffee table in front of him. They remained both quiet, Tris allowing the information to sink in and Tobias trying to wrap his head around what he learned.

"You serious?" he asked after a while.

"Why would I lie?" she asked.

"I didn't mean… I mean… I don't know," he stuttered. Tris chuckled. She couldn't remember Tobias ever being speechless.

Tris started telling him the story of how she and her friends became Divergent. She told him about the gigs in their early days, the albums, the awards, basically everything that happened in their professional lives since the inception of the band. Tobias was speechless at first trying to soak in as much as possible about the secret life his younger sister and her friends had been living. Tris explained that they didn't tell anyone because they wanted to make it on their own and not because they were related to some of the most powerful men in the country. Tobias nodded, understanding their point of view, since he too tried to make a name for himself out of the shadow of his father. He was proud to learn that all four of them managed to do that without much help, other than Cameron's and Matt's who were just there to guide them and schedule their concerts.

He promised to keep their secret and let them decide when they would tell anyone else. Soon Marlene, Lynn and Uriah returned to the apartment with pizzas and some chocolate cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, what do you say? 
> 
> In the next chapter: Tobias stumbles over the lyrics to the song about Drew. He downloads it and tries to figure out what prompted Tris to write it.
> 
> Will she tell him about the abuse?
> 
> Will he stay by her side? Or leave her?
> 
> Will he be able to handle the situation?
> 
> You will have the lyrics to the song in the next chapter. That was the first time I ever wrote anything like that. I hope you will like it. so far I'm confident that I did good. My beta readers assured me of that. But I'm curious to hear more opinions.
> 
> Love you all.


	9. The Darkest Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The title of this chapter is the same as the song I wrote (just the lyrics). "The Darkest Hour" is completely mine.
> 
> (c) The Darkest Hour by Christina Wind. All rights reserved.

Over the next month Tobias visited Tris every weekend. They went on dates or stayed at the apartment and even if the other three were home they had fun together. Tobias only got glimpses of the unique relationship these four had over the years but being part of their group he could see how much they loved and supported each other. One Saturday Tris dragged him with them to the Laser Tag place they used to go to. They spent hours there chasing each other. Matt joined them and they played either boys versus girls or mixed the teams up. Tobias couldn't remember the last time he had that much fun or if at all. Those four lived to the fullest, like each day could have been their last. He admired that about all of them. They did what they loved regardless of what others thought or said.

Despite being together for a month Tris still wasn't ready to take their relationship a step further, but Tobias was patient and let her set the pace. Truth be told, they technically only saw each other on weekends and while talking daily over the phone or chatting on Skype there was still a lot to build relationship-wise. He was more than happy being her boyfriend and being able to hold and kiss her, even if it was just on the aforementioned weekends. Sometimes they spoke for hours if they had the chance.

Tobias often listened to the four of them jamming and he loved to see all of them so happy. When he went back after the first weekend he spent in New York and told his friends that Divergent agreed to perform at the party later that year the others freaked out. If they had only known how easy it was to convince the band. But as promised he didn't reveal that the band members were in fact related to them all.

"What do you want to do?" Tobias asked her as he was lying on the couch and Tris was lying on top of him. He rubbed her back and she nuzzled his neck.

"Can we stay home? I'm not in the mood to go out," she said a little sleepy.

"Come on, girl, we wanted to go dancing," Uriah said as he came into the room and heard her.

"I know, but I'm just tired," she protested.

"Well, I'm going," Uriah declared. "Who's with me?"

"I'm coming too," Lynn said and checked her pocket for her keys, some cash and her cell.

"Well, I'm not gonna stay at home all by myself," Marlene said and went to the door. Tobias chuckled.

"We're still here and not going anywhere," he called after his sister.

"Yeah, right. 'Cause being the third wheel is really awesome. No thanks, big brother," she said and Tobias could hear the elevator door opening. The other two said their goodbyes and closed and locked the door behind them. It wasn't the first time Tobias spent the night at their place but he always slept on the couch. He didn't want to make Tris uncomfortable and was okay with just being close by. She still hadn't told him her other secret, the bad one, but he didn't push either. She would tell him eventually.

"You asleep?" he asked when she hadn't said a word in a while.

"No, just thinking," she said softly.

"About?"

"Us."

"What about us?"

"It's still kind of weird, I mean, us being together," she said while drawing circles over his chest. He remained quiet, before he asked her what she meant.

"Do you regret being my girlfriend?"

"No," came her response immediately. She certainly did not regret that. If anything it was the only thing that made sense. "I'm just saying it's weird. We've known each other our whole lives and it took us so long to give it a try," she clarified. He let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding. He thought about it too.

"I think we wouldn't have worked a few years ago. We were in too different places in our lives and I think we just would have ruined everything," he said and made her think. Did he change his mind about their relationship? As if sensing the troublesome thought he added. "I'm just saying, that if we would have tried this, I don't know, two years ago I don't think we would have been happy. Everything that happened in our lives since then until we became a couple marked us and helped us grow. I don't think we would have lasted even this long and to be honest, Tris, I want us to last longer than a month or two or six or a year. You know," he said and hoped she wouldn't freak out by his boldness, but she remained silent. If he implied marriage at some point she sure as hell wasn't ready for that, but if he just saw them being together for a long time then maybe she could too. She cared for him, deeply, she knew that, but she was still confused and she felt that she needed to come completely clean before she could even think of taking their relationship a step further. But if she was honest with herself she was terrified that he would see her as damaged goods and leave her and she wasn't sure if she could handle his rejection.

She snuggled closer to him trying to memorize him, but her action made him aware that something might not be right.

"Are you okay, babe?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she lied. She couldn't talk to him. Not yet.

"You tired? Want me to take you to bed?" he asked and she smiled.

"Will you stay with me?" she asked. He was a little surprised by her request, but he would have lied if he would say he minded it.

"Of course, anything you want," he told her earnestly. He would give her the moon if she asked for it. He was head over heels for her and there was no turning back. He shifted a little and they both stood up. She started walking but then Tobias scooped her up and carried her bridal style to her bedroom. He laid her down on her bed and she quickly moved under her comforter motioning him to follow. He smiled at her and got into bed. He held her close and breathed in her scent until they both were fast asleep.

He woke up in the middle of the night with the urge to urinate. He untangled himself from his girlfriend and stepped into her small bathroom. He didn't turn on the light; he was already familiar with the space, despite never having spent a night in the room before. But sometimes they would remain in her room to have some privacy when his sister and their friends would be home. As he came back into the room he stumbled and almost fell over. He cursed under his breath and tried to assess what he hit when he came out of the bathroom. It appeared to be a trash bin, but it contained only paper. It wasn't wrinkled like one might expect. There wasn't much light in the room, but Tris still slept with a night light so he was able to see where the sheets landed and picked them up. As he gathered them he saw something familiar. It appeared to be the lyrics to Divergent's newest single that came out a few months back, "The Darkest Hour". He remembered the song vaguely. He didn't get the chance to hear it often, but the few times he did he noticed the sadness of it. Back when he first heard it he only thought of how beautifully written it was and how perfectly the author captured the feelings of the characters in the song, but now that he knew that Tris wrote them he wondered what hid behind those lyrics. He picked up the papers and decided to go into the living room. He turned on the light on the lamp next to the couch and looked for the sheet of paper with the lyrics scribbled on. Now that he could see he recognized Tris' handwriting. She definitely wrote that song. He sat down and started reading.

When we met it was magical/ You were entering, I was exiting

We met in between and our eyes locked/ I was already gone

You wasted no time and asked me out/ I was so thrilled and stuttered around

Our first date was unlike others/ We jammed all night and I was yours

We were happy/ Weren't we?

We were one / Did you want someone else?

I gave you everything / Wasn't it enough?

You knew my soul / And I thought I knew yours

But then came the hour/ Our darkest hour

People kept saying you are bad for me / But I was deaf

People showed me your dark side / But I was blind

People told me you would hurt me / But I was numb to the pain

Who knew they were right? / I didn't.

We were happy/ Weren't we?

We were one / Did you want someone else?

I gave you everything / Wasn't it enough?

You knew my soul / And I thought I knew yours

But then came the hour/ Our darkest hour

You left me alone when I needed you the most / Left me in the cold

I thought you loved me / But you don't even know what that is

And then I saw the real you/ The monster behind the smoking glass

You were the master and I was always your slave/ You possessed me without earning me

You took what you wanted without giving anything in return / It was only for you

You shared me with your friends and didn't even tell me / You killed my spirit and now I'm a shell

We were happy/ Weren't we?

We were one / Did you want someone else?

I gave you everything / Wasn't it enough?

You knew my soul / And I thought I knew yours

But then came the hour/ Our darkest hour

You wanted a toy and couldn't see the woman I was / I'm a shadow now

Thank you, but I'll go on without you / Thank you, but goodbye.

Tobias reread the lyrics several times. He opened his laptop and looked for the song. He downloaded it and used his headphones to listen to it while reading the lyrics. He didn't know why but each time he heard the song and read the lines in her handwriting something stirred inside of him. He knew from everyone that Tris usually wrote her best songs when she was either very happy or very sad, but this song was painful. Did the song have anything to do with what Tris still hadn't told him? Was this part of her second secret that she wasn't yet ready to reveal? What had happened to make her write this? The more he thought of it the more impatient he got. He kept reading the lines, hoping he would find an answer, but none came to mind, at least none that he was happy about. The words she used in the second part of the song, master, slave, possessed they frightened him. What if something terrible happened to her? As he pondered upon the meaning of her words and listened to the song he couldn't hear when someone approached him.

Tris woke up from a nightmare. She was a little girl again and a zombie chased her. It wasn't anything unusual or terribly frightening, but it did startle her awake. Once she realized her boyfriend wasn't in the room she went to look for him. She saw him sitting on the couch and called for him softly to not wake anyone else, but he didn't hear her. She got closer and saw the name of the song he listened to. It was the song about Drew. She gasped and immediately put her hand over her mouth. He found the song. It wasn't really hard, but she wondered why he would listen to it in the middle of the night. And then she saw over his shoulder the paper with the lyrics. She wanted to throw it away, many times actually, but that song was part of her healing. She couldn't throw it away. It was the first and only draft. She usually would go over and over again until she deemed a song good, but when she wrote "The Darkest Hour" she left it the way it was. It was filled with raw emotion and she needed to get it out that way. She didn't really intent to publish it, but her friends and uncle convinced her, told her that it was too beautiful to not share. She reluctantly agreed and the song became a hit right away. But now Tobias saw the sheet with the lyrics in her handwriting and he knew that she was the one who usually wrote songs based on her own experiences. She couldn't cower away. He would demand answers and she was afraid of giving them. What if he would leave her? What if he would resent her? She wasn't sure she could handle that. But she promised to give it a try with him and he did the same. But how can he if she lied to him? She needed to tell him. He deserved to know. She could only hope he would stay and not leave her.

She stepped in front of the coffee table and Tobias looked up. He put the headphones down and she could hear herself sing the song. He looked at her with a confused and maybe angry expression on his face, his eyes were piercing her, penetrated her very soul and she felt herself shrink back under his intense stare. Maybe she should just return back to her bedroom and pretend this didn't happen. But he would follow her, no doubt about that. He was always stubborn and she knew he would demand answers as soon as he could and her appearing right after he read the lyrics and heard the song must be divine providence.

"Tobias," she said in a whisper and her voice almost cracked completely. He stood up and almost took a step towards her.

"Please tell me what happened," he said and his eyes softened. Tris found herself at a loss of words. She had no idea where to begin and how to tell him what happened. "Tris?" he asked, his voice anguished.

"Sit down," she said and he did so. She pulled the one armchair on his right to where it now faced him. She sat down and stared at the paper on the coffee table. She just couldn't bring herself to look at him while she spoke the next sentence. "I was raped," she said. It took all her courage to say those words. Everything before that and everything that followed that moment was irrelevant. The fact that she was used and discarded like an old sock made her feel dirty and unworthy, little and weak.

It took Tobias a moment to fully understand what she told him. Did he hear her right? Raped? Who did that? Who would hurt her like that? Why didn't she say something sooner? When did it happen? Where is that low-life so that he could end his pathetic existence for ever even thinking of hurting her? All those questions remained unanswered for the time being, because he realized she started crying. He stood up and went over to where she sat down. He kneeled before her and tried to make her look at him, but she refused. He remembered what he learned at a seminar after a series of rapes on campus. One of the victims was a friend of Shauna's. The college practically forced every student to attend those seminars to learn what to do when something like that happened to oneself or a person one knew. The first thing that popped into his head was that victims usually blamed themselves and thought they deserved what happened to them. He could only hope that wasn't Tris' case. She still refused to look at him so he just picked her up and carried her back into her bedroom, closed the door behind them and sat down on the bed with her still in his arms.

"You don't have to tell me, if you're not ready. I'll still be here when you are," he told her reassuringly. She wrapped her arms tighter around him, one around his middle and the other around his neck, holding on to him for dear life. He had no idea how much those words meant to her. She nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly as she cried into his shirt, soaking it with her tears, but neither cared. All he wanted was to hold her and all she wanted was to feel him close to her.

It took Tris a long while to calm down before she could even try to speak again. Tobias shifted a little and leaned against the headboard with her sitting between his legs. He held her close to him while she laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead and temple and tried to figure out how to help her. The sole thought of someone laying a finger on her enraged him. Whoever did that to her deserved to die and he would gladly go to jail if it meant that bastard was dead and out of this world.

"I met him in a local bar where he and his band performed one night," Tris started speaking again, her voice hoarse and shaky. Tobias listened intently to every word she spoke. At first he didn't understand what that had to do with anything, but as she continued he realized her ex-boyfriend was the rapist. It made sense. She wrote about it in her song. Tobias kept quiet allowing her to tell her story without interruptions. "Everyone kept telling me that he was a bad influence but I was too stubborn to listen to them and it meant my downfall." He started understanding why these four always shared every secret with each other. They supported each other unconditionally and protected one anther even against their will. "I felt sick, I had a bug or something and instead of staying with me that bastard just left to celebrate that his fucking band landed a song on national radio," she said scoffing. "I didn't insist for him to stay. I knew we would end up fighting and I didn't feel well enough for that. He left and I tried to sleep but couldn't." She stopped and took a deep breath. Tobias could tell the bad part was coming. He tightened his arms around her trying to show her that he was there for her no matter what. He could only hope that she would let him. "I looked for a movie on his laptop but he didn't have any. I found however some videos. I opened them to see what they were. At first I thought they were porn, well you could say they were, but I was starring in them," she said and Tobias couldn't stop himself from asking.

"What? He filmed you?" Tobias asked incredulous. How low can someone sink to do that?

"I swear, Tobias, I didn't know he was filming me, us. If I'd known I would have never slept with him," she said and started crying again. Tobias halfway regretted speaking. This was difficult enough for her.

"I believe you. I know you would never agree to anything like that," he told her reassuringly as he held her tighter and kissed her temple. Tris took a few calming breaths before she continued.

"I went through all the videos he had; each time I was over there he filmed us having sex and the most disturbing part, there was more than one camera. I got to a video that was dated from Valentine's Day. That night we went out to a club. He brought me several beers and at some point we were invited in the VIP lounge. I was already entertaining a buzz and wanted to leave but he insisted that we tried something out before we leave. I agreed and he gave me cocaine." Tris paused to sniff her nose. Tobias tried to process what she had told him so far. He had so many questions and the rage was returning with each of her words. When she leaned back against him he embraced her once again and let her continue. "I don't remember what happened afterwards, I practically forgot the following ten hours. I remember waking up in his apartment, in his bed. I was cuffed to the bed and I had a terrible headache. I could barely move when I saw what he was doing," she said and Tobias gripped her tighter. Whatever she was about to say Tobias knew he wouldn't like it. "He was licking me," she said. He knew what she meant. "That should have been a clue. That and the fact that I had no recollection of the events of that night and the fact that my entire body felt like it worked out for hours. I didn't know at the time what happened and he avoided answering, kept telling me we had a fun night, but nothing more. I was to find that out the hard way a week later. I clicked on the video that said "Valentine's Bang" and I think deep down I already knew what I was about to see."

"You don't have to tell me," Tobias assured her. He didn't really know if it was for her or his sake. He wasn't sure if he wouldn't go and find that bastard and kill him with his bare hands.

"I want and need to tell you. You deserve to know. I will spare you the gruesome details, though. I recognized myself slumped on his bed. I wasn't alone in the room. There was Drew, my ex, and two other guys. They undressed first and then undressed me. Even in my drugged state I tried to fight them, but they were stronger and I couldn't focus. They violated me a few times before the two strangers finally left and I was alone with Drew. He continued even after I passed out and cuffed me to the bed in case I would've woken up and wanted to leave."

They don't say anything for what seems like forever. Tris started crying again, while Tobias tried to wrap his head around what she told him. How could anyone do something so despicable and cowardly? How can anyone take advantage of a girl who clearly couldn't defend herself but still told them no? At that point Tobias hoped that those low-lives were either dead or in jail because he was out for blood.

"I'll understand if you break up with me now that you know. I'm damaged and who wants to be with someone like that?" she said with a sarcastic chuckle. He couldn't believe what he heard. Did she really think he would break up with her because of that? If anything he admired her strength to go on. Not many people go through something that traumatic and find the courage to live on. Most abuse victims who can't handle the situation commit suicide or go down a very dark path, filled with drugs and alcohol, but she didn't. She went to therapy, looked for help, she understood that she couldn't work through this on her own.

"Tris, listen to me. I don't think you're damaged and I will definitely not break up. I," he stopped himself. He wanted to tell her how he felt but maybe it wasn't the right time. She might think he only did it because of what she shared. "I care too much for you," he finally said. He did more than that, but the timing wasn't right for what he really wanted to say. "I'm not leaving," he said sternly. Tris turned around and straddled his lap. He held her close as she cried and he tried to comfort her as best as possible. He would help her go through this. They would do it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please let me know what you think of the confession and the song.


	10. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi there. I will probably post two new shorts in A Series of Kinky Events no later than tomorrow.
> 
> Thank you all for reading this story and reviewing. I'm really glad you liked the song. It was the first time I wrote something like that.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Tobias called his father first thing in the morning asking for a few days off. He never did that. In fact, his father often had to force vacation days on him to make him relax a little bit. Marcus was proud of his son, but working without taking some time off became counterproductive. It seemed odd to Marcus that Tobias would call him on Sunday morning for that, but he agreed and told his son to take as much time as he needed, but to be available if they had to talk to him. Tobias happily agreed and hung up.

Everyone in the apartment was still asleep. Tris fell asleep around five a.m. but Tobias couldn't close an eye. Her confession was ringing loud in his head and the subsequent talk wasn't really helping. Tris told him that after she found the videos she called Eric first. At the mention of Tris' teacher Tobias got jealous again, but he trusted her when she told him there was absolutely nothing going on between them. She told him everything that happened after she found those horrible videos, how Eric and Cameron convinced her to go to the police, about the closed trial and how she started therapy. He was proud of her. She wanted to work through things and he was hell bent on helping her.

He made pancakes for her since he knew how much she loved them and prepared everything to take it to her room. He made coffee and squeezed some oranges and went into the bedroom with the tray in his hands. He pushed the door open, since it was ajar, and entered the room. He sat the tray down on her nightstand and kissed her lips softly. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him. She gave him a shy smile, but her eyes betrayed her sadness. He swore to make that sadness disappear and replace it with happiness. She deserved it, probably more than anyone.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said and her smile widened a little.

"Morning, handsome," she replied and he kissed her again. It was a chaste kiss. She sat up and leaned against the headboard staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm glad you stayed," she said. It meant more than it sounded like. He nodded before sitting closer to her and pulling her in his arms.

"I'm not going to leave you, so stop worrying about that," he told her while rubbing her back. He let go of her and she watched him. "I took a few days off," he informed her.

"You shouldn't have," she said quickly. He frowned. He thought she would be happy if he stayed with her.

"I can leave if you don't want me here," he said, trying to sound neutral, but it hurt him that she would send him away.

"I didn't mean it like that," she said. "I don't want you to miss work because of me."

"Work can do without me. But I need to be with you. I know you are strong, Tris, but let me be by your side." She didn't know what to say or if she should say anything at all. She nodded, secretly ecstatic about the prospect of having him with her a while longer. She really thought he might change his mind about her and leave her, but yet here he was offering to stay with her longer than planned.

They ate the scrumptious food he prepared and decided to stay in her room for the rest of the day.

On Monday Tris made an appointment with Johanna and asked Tobias to accompany her. He accepted because he really wanted to show her how much he cared for her and that he would always support her.

They got there by cab and entered the office of the therapist hand in hand. The office smelled of cinnamon again and Tris relaxed a little bit. They sat down and after Tobias introduced himself to the middle-aged woman the session started.

"What brings you here today?" Johanna asked them, a kind smile grazing her features.

"I told Tobias about Drew," Tris said directly. Tobias noticed that Tris never sugar-coated things. She got them out and dealt with the consequences.

"And how did that make you feel?" Johanna asked.

"Which one? Me or him?" Tris asked confused.

"Both."

"I felt like shit. Kept crying like a baby and became paranoid. You know, same old story," Tris said and slumped back on the couch. Tobias watched her concerned.

"Don't worry," Johanna said and Tobias glanced at her. "Initial reaction," is all she said about Tris' behavior. Tobias wondered what that meant. "How did you feel?" Why do shrinks always ask you how you feel about something? But Tobias was there for Tris so he obliged and answered.

"Angry, frustrated, sad, helpless," he listed and was surprised at the sincerity and accuracy of his recollection of his feelings.

"Would you care to elaborate?" Johanna asked.

"Uh, sure. I found the sheet with the lyrics to the song Tris wrote. I read it over and over again and listened to it. Tris found me in her living room and then we started talking. Well, she talked, I listened. I was angry about what that bastard did and frustrated that I couldn't get my hands on him. I felt sad for her, but not because I think you are damaged," he said and looked pointedly at her. "I was and still am sad that you had to go through all that in the first place. And I feel helpless because I don't know how to help her," Tobias said looking at the therapist again.

"But you are helping me," Tris said and leaned forward to be closer to him.

"How?" he asked confused, staring at her.

"By staying with me," she said and realized it sounded stupid. "That came out wrong. What I meant was, you chose to stay and hear me out and encouraged me when I was down. I really want to believe that you stay with me because you want to not because you think I might fall apart if you go," she said, although that's exactly what would have happened. She was sure of that. Just as sure as she was about the fact that she fell for him, really bad, but she didn't want him to stay with her because of the wrong reasons. "I wanted to tell you many times about Drew, but I was afraid you would flee the moment you hear about my past," she said and slumped back.

"Tris, I told you, I'm not leaving. And not because I fear you would fall apart. I know you and even if you think you might fall apart I know you won't. You are one of the strongest persons I know and it is certainly not an obligation being with you, but a privilege. Tris, I love you and I'm not going anywhere," he confessed, ignoring the other woman in the room and forgetting he wanted to plan a romantic dinner or something to confess his true feelings towards her, but she needed to know that he chose to stay out of love, not pity.

"What?" she asked incredulously. She sat back up straight and watched his face carefully, scanning it for some sort of sign that it all was just a trick or maybe she misheard him.

"Tris Prior, I'm in love with you. I've fallen for you a while ago, but I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"You love me?" she asked, trying her hardest not to fall apart and cry again.

"Yes, I love you very much. You don't have to say it back, because," he got interrupted when she launched herself in his arms and kissed him with all the pent up emotions of the last weeks. She fell for him too but she was afraid that by admitting those feelings she would open herself up to hurt and pain. She knew he wasn't like Drew, but she feared he might distance himself from her if he knew about what happened to her. But his confession and his entire support were genuine.

"I love you, too," she finally said breathless when they parted to draw in much needed air. He looked into her eyes and saw the sincerity behind them. He smiled and kissed her again.

They talked for the remainder of the session and Tobias asked if he could get Johanna's business card. She gave it to him, figuring he might want to talk to her sometime without Tris present. They bid goodbye to the therapist and left.

Tris was over the moon happy. He loved her. Tobias loved her and she loved him. She held his hand the entire time since they confessed their feelings towards each other. Sure, she would have wanted it to be a more romantic setting, maybe a candlelit dinner or a stroll through the park or even after a bathroom break between two "Star Wars" movies. But hey, at least they said it.

Tobias stayed in New York that entire week. When Tris had classes that she couldn't miss he worked either in the café nearby or from the apartment. He still hadn't told anyone, but somehow this whole thing, silly as it seemed, thrilled him. He knew that once they made their relationship official his parents and her parents and everyone else would want to weigh in and give them advice, despite not having asked for it. And then there was Andrew. He loved Tris very much, which is obvious since he is her father, but he couldn't fathom his baby girl was all grown up. He often joked that with her attitude she would never find a husband, but his dad told him that Andrew often sighed in relief when Tris came home and didn't introduce some schmuck as her boyfriend. Tobias could easily imagine that, having it witnessed it himself sometimes. But eventually they would have to tell their families and Tobias wasn't sure if they would be happy for the couple or Andrew would kill him for defiling his baby, not that they did anything like that. Ever since he learned of what she went through he understood her better and tried his hardest not to push her, but it became more difficult every day. He loved her and knowing she loved him back made it increasingly difficult for him to literally keep it in his pants. And for the entire week he spent in the city he had been sleeping in the same bed with her. He didn't suggest it, she came and asked him to stay with her. He knew she didn't want to take it further than just cuddling and he was okay with that. But he was still a guy and for the entirety of his stay he had a few cold showers to calm himself down.

Tris told Eric almost immediately about her relationship with Tobias. She didn't want him to find out from someone else or find out by coincidence. They became really good friends and she sincerely hoped he would find someone and get over his crush on her.

They were discussing her paper when Eric suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and slumped back into his desk chair.

"What's wrong?" Tris asked him concerned.

"Headache," was all Eric could say.

"Do you need me to get you something?" she asked standing up.

"No, it's fine. It's not a big deal. I have them sometimes," he told her but the frown on her face told him she wouldn't let go. "It just startled me. I'm fine, Tris. Really," he insisted. She didn't really believe him, but she didn't want to annoy him while he was in pain. They wrapped things up, since she didn't want to keep him any longer.

"See you soon," she told him as she left his office. They had decided to go out that Friday for drinks and that Eric could meet Tris' boyfriend. She thought by allowing those two to meet Eric would move on and look for a girl to be with , since it wouldn't be Tris and Tobias would finally see that he had nothing to worry about. She was his and she was happy about that.

When she got home she found her boyfriend lying on the couch, sleeping and snoring lightly. His laptop was on the coffee table and she could see that he had been working. She went to the closet where they kept a few fleece blankets and covered him with it. It was almost June but sometimes it got chilly in the apartment. She bent forward and kissed his forehead and noticed he was a little warm. She frowned and went to her bathroom to check the medicine cabinet. She had a lot of pills: antidepressants, chill out pills (as she called them), some vitamins, ibuprofen, but nothing for the common cold. Her medicine cabinet lacked another sort of pill and Tris decided to call Johanna and ask her about it.

Tris left the apartment and went to the pharmacy nearby. It wasn't too far to require a cab, but it was quite a bit of a walk. She dialed Johanna's number and waited for the older woman to answer.

"Hello, Tris," she greeted.

"Hello, Johanna. How have you been?" she asked.

"Good, thank you for asking," Johanna answered cheerful.

"I was wondering if you think, I mean, would it be okay to, you know, get busy with my boyfriend?" Tris stuttered. The moment those words left her mouth she stopped in her tracks and slapped her hand on her forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Tris could hear the therapist chuckle and she blushed violently. Damn.

"Tris, you know I can't tell you if it is okay. It has to be your decision. The question is: are you ready?" Johanna asked a little more serious now. Tris remained silent for a moment and thought about the question. Was she ready? She loved Tobias and he loved her. She trusted him and knew he wouldn't betray her or hurt her. She didn't just want to have sex; she wanted to be with him all the way. She knew he did everything humanly possible to avoid the "talk", he was the epitome of a loving and trustworthy man. Yes, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be his as much as she wanted him to be hers.

"Yes," Tris answered confidently.

"Well, then, don't forget to use protection," Johanna joked a little. Tris smiled. She thanked the therapist and hung up.

She browsed through the drug store picking up some medicine for the cold; she got her birth control pills, some tampons and other stuff to have at home, just in case she needed it. She paid for her purchase and left the store heading back home. Her friends had something planned and wouldn't be back home until later that evening.

The moment she entered the apartment Tobias came to the door to greet her.

"Hey, baby," he said and kissed her cheek.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" she asked and kissed his lips quickly.

"Good. Why? How are you feeling?" he asked confused by the way she asked him.

"I'm good, thank you for asking," she said with a chuckle. "What I meant was, I was home earlier and you were sleeping on the couch. You seemed to have a fever," she said as she stretched her hand to feel his forehead. He didn't seem to have a temperature now, but she would check him again later. He smiled at her as she retracted her arm. "What?"

"That's such a mom thing to do," he said laughing. He laughed even harder when she pouted and he couldn't help it but pick her up in his arms and kiss her thoroughly.


	11. Busted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story. In case you've missed it, I posted two new stories in the Kinky series.

Tobias had to leave on Sunday. He wanted to stay a while longer, but he had an important project that needed his attention. Tris almost had to push him out of the apartment to make him go back to Chicago. Of course, she wanted to keep him there with her but she understood that he had a job that he loved, just like she had her music. He promised to be back the following Friday night.

As discussed, the group plus Tobias met with Eric and the situation was more than awkward. Eric tried to make small talk, but ended up talking about school with either Uriah or Lynn who were sitting right next to him, while Tobias pointedly draped his arm around Tris' shoulder signaling the other man that she was his. If Tris wouldn't have felt so uncomfortable she would have laughed at his primal behavior. In some way she found it titillating and realized she wanted him more than ever. However, she decided to wait. She wanted their first time to be special and not because he felt jealous.

Tobias and Tris talked on the phone the entire week. Each time one of them had a moment to themselves they usually texted to see if the other was available and then called. Tris felt like soaring each time she heard his voice or saw his picture when he called or texted her. She had a continuous smile plastered on her face that her friends started teasing her about it.

Tris had an awkward conversation Monday after the fiasco with Eric and Tobias. Eric acted a little abrasive and pissed her off, but she decided to be the bigger person and not bitch about it. Eric eventually got over it and apologized for his behavior. He still had feelings for her, but he could see that she was happy with her boyfriend. He didn't care that the guy acted all macho around her the entire time, but when Eric got glimpses of the genuine interaction between the two he recognized his defeat, not that he ever put up a fight. Tris was a remarkable person and if she would have wanted to give it a try with Eric she would've. He respected her integrity and honesty and decided to be just her friend, even if it hurt him. Besides, given recent events in his personal life he decided it would be better to not pursue a romantic relationship with the girl, despite wanting nothing more than holding her in his arms, telling her he loved her and making love to her at least once. But he couldn't and wouldn't. She was happy and that was all that mattered to him. He couldn't burden her with his problems when she still dealt with her own.

On June 13th Tris' mother called her to tell her that both her sister, Shauna and Lynn's sister-in-law, Christina, went into labor. Natalie asked her and the rest of them to join the family for the happy event. Tris wasn't really excited about that, but she was happy she could spend some time with Tobias, even if they wouldn't be able to kiss each other or hold hands or anything like that, she was still happy. She informed her surrogate siblings of the (un)fortunate events which caused a round of groans and complaints and then finally they left for the airport. Tris texted Eric telling him they all had to go back to Chicago to welcome two new members, while Uriah called Matt to tell him the same. Matt, lucky bastard, had work and couldn't make it, but Cameron assured them he would join them later that day. Before having to turn off her phone Tris called Tobias letting him know they would come to support the girls.

"I'm coming to pick you up," Tobias told her.

"We can take a cab, honey," Tris assured him.

"No way. I've been waiting the entire week to kiss you and hold you. Once we're at the hospital I'll have to share you with everyone else," Tobias said and Tris could practically imagine the pout on his face. She chuckled and shook her head. The flight attendant signaled her to turn off the phone and she quickly said goodbye.

"See you soon, baby. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart."

They hung up and Tris leaned back and waited for the plane to take off. Once they were at cruising altitude Tris unbuckled and got her notebook out and started writing. Ever since Tobias and she confessed their feelings toward one another Tris was more inspired than ever. She already wrote a couple of songs and always had new ideas.

When they finally landed Tris rushed out and the moment she saw him she leaped into his arms and he caught her happy to finally be able to embrace and kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and kissed him passionately. But to their misfortune Tobias forgot that his father came with him and was standing just a few feet away from the scene. Tobias told his parents, after they insisted once again that he should find a woman to settle down with, that he indeed found one, but she lived and worked in New York and for the time being they would just see each other on weekends. The two lovebirds held each other closely forgetting or ignoring, whatever suited them best, the world around them until someone cleared his throat. Marcus. Tobias stiffened when he recognized his father and pulled back slightly, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. He stared at Tris who didn't understand what was going on, but then looked over her boyfriend's shoulder and saw his father.

"Uh, hi," she said awkwardly, still attached to Tobias who didn't move at all.

"Hello," Marcus greeted and had a serious expression on his face. Tris looked from the older Eaton to her boyfriend and was at a loss of words. If Marcus knew, then he would certainly tell Andrew, who would flip out, cause a scene, murder Tobias, ground her, well after that she didn't really know what would happen.

"So, what's up?" she asked, trying to deflect from the obvious elephant in the room.

"You know, same old, same old," Marcus said not taking his eyes off of them. He inwardly chuckled at the situation. Unbeknownst to his son, he accidentally heard a conversation he and Tris had a few weeks before via Skype. He listened in for a while curious to find out who the mysterious woman was who stole his son's heart. When he heard it was none other than the youngest daughter of his best friend he was first shocked, but then glad. He always liked the girl, despite her craziness. He didn't stay there long, especially since it was after hours, but what he heard made him realize that both his son and Tris are in love and he was glad about that. He was a little disappointed that his son, who usually talked to him and shared about his personal life, didn't tell him about his relationship, but maybe the two had their reasons. And he strongly suspected that that reason was Andrew Prior, the girl's father.

"Good to hear that. Say, Marcus, I always liked you best from all the old folks," Tris said with a grin and Tobias half chuckled, half chocked at hearing her refer to is father that way. Marcus smiled warmly at her knowing full well that she wanted something. He also was amused that throughout this entire conversation she was still attached to his son, like a monkey to a tree. "There any chance I could bribe you?" she asked.

"Why would you want to bribe me?" Marcus asked, playing along.

"Well, there is something my old man doesn't know about me," she said and tilted her head slightly toward Tobias who was still standing with his back to his father. Her friends already reached them but kept their distance. However, they were curious to see how things would play out.

"I figured. What can you offer for my silence?" Marcus asked.

"My loyalty," she said and kissed Tobias quickly before she hopped down.

"Your loyalty?" Marcus asked surprised.

"Yeah. Isn't it enough?" she asked and pouted a little. Marcus was speechless. He didn't expect to hear that. Tobias turned around now, having regained some of his composure.

"I didn't know loyalty comes with a price," Marcus teased her.

"Well, you want it or not?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"Okay, okay. I accept. My silence for your loyalty," Marcus agreed with a chuckle. "Come on. Let's get you kids to the hospital before the babies are born." Tris grabbed her bag and handed it to Tobias who took her luggage in one hand and held her hand with his other. Marcus glanced toward them and smiled. He then turned his attention to his daughter, opening his arms for her to hug him. Marlene did so and they remained like that for a moment. While he was glad for his son, he could understand how Andrew might not be as pleased as him. If it were Marlene coming home with a boy six years older than her, he too would question the boy's intentions. Marcus could only hope that Andrew would give Tobias a chance.

On the way to the hospital Marcus drove the minivan while Marlene sat next to him. Uriah and Lynn sat behind them, while Tobias and Tris were in the back making out. Marcus glanced toward them every once in a while and chuckled. He remembered when he was that young and in love with his wife. Well, he was still in love with her, but in the early years of their relationship they just couldn't keep their hands off each other and it looked like his son and his girlfriend were no different.

"You might wanna slow down in the back there," Marcus said but the two young people ignored him or didn't even hear him.

"Forget it, Marcus. You could yell at them and they wouldn't hear you," Uriah said and Marcus laughed.

"It's disgusting," Lynn said making a face.

"You're just jealous," Tobias and Tris said at the same time.

"Dude, you spend way too much time with our home girl," Uriah said.

"I beg the differ. I should spend some more with my girl," Tobias said to his younger friend and Tris stuck her tongue out.

"Nevertheless, we'll be there soon. Unless you want Andrew to have either a heart attack or put you in a coma, son, you better knock it off."

"So, you're keeping our secret?" Tris asked hopeful.

"For the time being," Marcus told them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tris asked curious.

"It means, Andrew is my best friend, more like a brother to me. If I were in his shoes I would want to know if my baby girl is dating someone," Marcus said.

"You can sleep easy, Marcus. Mar is the epitome of blowing guys off," Lynn said. "We briefly considered if she might be gay or something," Lynn joked and Marcus' head snapped in his daughter's direction.

"She's joking, daddy," Marlene assured.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Remember when the power was out and Uriah had that date and we got bored. We tried out a couple of things," Tris teased.

"Ugh, you said you wouldn't tell," Marlene almost shouted.

"Baby, you wanna tell me something?" Tobias asked in a whisper.

"I'm just messing with Mar. Nothing happened," she whispered back so that only he could hear her. "We had a few shots of tequila and got naked. I don't even know how we got there, but we wanted to know if any of us would be sexually attracted to a woman," Tris explained.

"And?" Tobias asked curious.

"I can't talk for the girls, but I'm not. I'm only attracted to you and last time I checked you were a dude," she said and kissed him under his ear, effectively causing a reaction that he rather didn't have in the same car as his dad and sister.

"Tris," he growled and even he could hear the arousal in his voice.

"Sorry. We should stop before we get to the hospital," Tris said sheepishly. She didn't want things to go too far, especially not with so many people around them, but she definitely wanted them to take the next step.

"So, tell me you two," Marcus said addressing the young couple. "Since when are you two together?"

"April," Tobias and Tris answered in unison.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, even though he figured why not.

"Several reasons," Tris started saying. Tobias leaned against the seat and pulled her close to him. She rested her head on his shoulder facing the front of the car, while absentmindedly playing with his left hand that was sitting in his lap, the other one hanging around her neck and with the right index finger he draw circles on her shoulder.

"Please, go ahead," Marcus urged her to continue.

"(a) Obviously, dad. He thinks I'm a freaking baby. (b) Even if dad would be okay with this relationship everyone else would have an opinion about it and tell me what I should or shouldn't do," Tris said.

"They would tell me, too," Tobias weighs in. Tris turned her head to him and he gave her a look like "don't think you're the only one with this problem".

"Right. (c) We wanted to see how things go without having the entire world know about it. (d) My dad again. He would probably kill Tobias for defiling me or something. (e) Mom would freak out and plan our wedding. (f) Evelyn would go nuts too and help mom. (g) Every woman in our expanded family would fucking get involved. (h) When that happens I'm gonna go to jail for killing everyone for driving me nuts. You need any more reasons?" she asked and Marcus laughed.

"No, I think you summed things up pretty well. But a word of advice, if you permit it," Marcus said and glanced at her in the rear view mirror. Tris nodded. "Don't keep this from your parents for too long. They both love you very much and only want what's best for you," he said serious.

"I know. That's why I had to take Tobias out for a test drive, check if he even is boyfriend material," she teased and they all laughed.

"Did he pass?" Marcus asked.

"What do you think, dad?" Tobias asked and planted a kiss on his girlfriend's lips releasing her mouth with a loud pop. Marcus nodded and soon parked the car in the hospital's parking lot. They got out and headed to the floor with the maternity ward. The moment they got there Natalie, Evelyn and Hana came to greet them, each hugging her child, well Natalie hugged both Tris and Lynn.

"How are they?" Marlene asked.

"Shauna is almost fully dilated but Christina still has a long way ahead," Hana explains. Tris always wondered why the entire neighborhood was around when something happened. It wasn't really an entire neighborhood, but their parents and their friends and their kids, they were always around no matter what was going on. Tris honestly wondered if these people had a life outside the commune.

"Do you want to see them?" Natalie asked and all four said "NO" at once and a little loud. The women looked at them surprised.

"Why not? I'm sure they would appreciate it," Evelyn said.

"I trust they are in capable hands here," Lynn said and walked over to greet her father, as did Tris with hers and Uriah with his. One by one the four younger members of this big family greeted their parents and siblings.

"Hey, Tris," Zeke said coming out of a room, Tris assumed her sister's.

"Hey, Zeke," she said and hugged him.

"Good. You're here. Shauna wants to see you," he said and started dragging her inside.

"What? Why? I can't help her. Mom, I don't wanna go," she whined and the others laughed, although Tris hasn't meant it to be funny. She genuinely didn't want to see her sister like that or God forbid anything else.

The others still laughed when they heard a scream and all heads turned toward Shauna's room. They thought maybe Shauna had another contraction but before anyone could say anything Tris came running out stumbled, fell on her knees, quickly got up and ran to Tobias, who wrapped his arms around her.

"Pumpkin, what's wrong?" her dad asked.

"Blood, so much blood," she muttered. Natalie chuckled.

"Well, of course, there's blood too," she said. "It's natural," she said and the older women laughed a little. Tris turned her head, appalled by what her mother said.

"That's not natural. That's like a freaking horror show for poor people. It's like Alien Vs. Predator meets Jaws meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Tris says and her friends make all disgusted faces.

"You're exaggerating, pumpkin," her father said, who noticed how familiar Tobias and Tris were. At first he didn't pay much attention, but as he watched them he saw something he didn't like. Tris had her arms tightly wrapped around the young man's upper body, burying her face in his chest, while Tobias held her pressed close to him, rubbing her back and whispering something to her. Andrew even thought that maybe he did that to calm her down, but it seemed odd that she would run to Tobias, when they never seemed to have interacted much. And then Tobias kissed her temple and Andrew could have sworn he saw him mouth "I love you" to her.

"Tris, sweetie, it's a natural thing. All women go through that," her mother tried to say but Tris cut her off.

"Yeah, insane women."

"Sweetheart, one day you'll be in this hospital giving birth to your children," Evelyn said with a chuckle. Tris shook her head.

"Come on, man, I can't believe it would be that bad," Uriah said and walked past them into the room. They heard Shauna yell at him to get out and he did so, rushing back to his friends.

"Uriah, that was uncalled for," his mother scolded.

"I'm so sorry, mommy," he said in an exaggerated baby voice.

"Dude, what kind of a man are you if you can't handle a woman giving birth?" Lynn asked mockingly. "I mean I get her," she said pointing at Tris. "She's a pussy when it comes to horror movies, but you love them."

"Child birth isn't a horror movie," Natalie said in a scolding and exasperated tone.

"Lynn, it's like the slaughter house in there," Uriah said.

"Children, it's not a slaughter house," Evelyn said. The men all watched their wives and younger children discuss the topic of childbirth and horror movies. Andrew, however, kept watching his youngest in the arms of a man who was six years older than her and they both seemed comfortable, too comfortable for Andrew's liking.

"Hang on. When you say slaughter house," Marlene starts saying but then Uriah and Tris say in unison.

"Seventh grade slaughter house."

"Ew, gross," both Lynn and Marlene shouted.

"I don't understand," Marcus said, trying to follow the whole thing.

"Daddy, don't get mad," Marlene said and Marcus knew that something bad was coming. "When we were in seventh grade we skipped a couple of classes and sneaked into the slaughter house, outside the city. We wanted to liberate the cows."

"How did you even get there?" Joe asked.

"Bus," Lynn answered.

"We got in and we watched as they killed the cows, daddy," Marlene said and went to her father and hugged him.

"That was really bad of you, kids," Natalie said.

"Since when are you two so cozy?" Andrew asked and everyone looked at him. Tris and Tobias felt Andrew's stare and Tobias looked up, while Tris turned her head slightly. Busted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What will happen next?
> 
> What will Andrew do?
> 
> Will he approve of Tris' and Tobias' relationship or will he try to separate them?
> 
> What will the rest of their family say?
> 
> Will Andrew forgive his daughter for yet another lie?
> 
> How will Tris deal with all the new drama she caused?


	12. Trust

Tobias looked in horror toward Andrew who looked at him like he could kill him with his bare hands. Andrew's gaze shifted from Tobias to Tris and he felt her shrink back and shake slightly. Protectively, the young man pushed her behind him shielding her from her father. Usually, Tobias wouldn't think that Andrew would hurt her, but the way he just looked at her made him reconsider. No matter what would happen next he wouldn't allow her father or anyone else to lay a finger on her.

"Tris?" asked Andrew, his voice low and grave.

"What is going on?" Natalie asked confused. They all stared at the two men trying to figure out what was going on.

"Explain yourselves," ordered Tris' father, his voice final. Tobias decided to come clean. It would have happened eventually and he didn't want to lie to Tris' father.

"Andrew, I'm in love with your daughter," Tobias said and silence fell. The only sounds that could be heard were the usual sounds one would expect in a hospital, followed by some grunts and groans from the two women in labor they all came to support. Natalie looked from Tobias to her husband and then to Tris. Evelyn had a similar reaction. Tobias couldn't tell what others did or what expressions their faces held, because he kept staring back at the man in front of him.

"In love?" Andrew asked. "Tris, is that true?" he asked and tried to see his daughter. It was only now that Andrew saw her standing behind Tobias. He wondered if he was the reason why his baby girl hid in fear. "Tris?" he asked again, his voice a lot softer than before. Tris took a deep breath. She knew there was no reason denying it and she wasn't ashamed or anything. In fact, she was more than proud; proud that Tobias chose her and proud that she was mature enough to be in love for the first time. Yes, she was infatuated before, but she was never in love. Whatever she had with those other guys paled in comparison to what she felt for this man who so selflessly stood up to her father defending her and their feelings for each other. Tobias was nothing but a rock those past couple of months and she was an adult for crying out loud. Why would she hide from her father?

"Yes, it's true. We're in love," she said stepping next to the man she loved and grabbed his hand holding it firm in hers, while staring at her father. They all remained silent again. Andrew looked from his daughter to the young man she was standing next to trying to understand what was going on.

His little girl couldn't have said that. Surely he must have misheard her. She was too young for that, wasn't she? And he? He was too old for her. He could pick any other girl, but not his precious baby girl.

"Dad, I know what you're thinking," she said.

"You're psychic now too?" he asked sounding more sarcastic than he wanted. Tris frowned.

"No, but I know you. You have this wrong impression about me."

"Well, then show me the real you, because clearly I don't know you," he said a little loud.

"Alright. You think that I'm too young to date. I could be fifty and you would still think that," she said. "But guess what? I'm not. I started dating when I was thirteen, had my first kiss then and my first boyfriend. Why have you never met him? Good question, dad. Because, geez, I don't know, you're paranoid and controlling and never let me do shit unless it's some bullshit you pre-approve because Shauna or Caleb did it first and I can't get hurt or something. Wanna know something else? I'm not a virgin anymore. And no, it's not because of him. I lost it to Al McIntire when I was fifteen. That's not all. I also had a few one night stands since I got to New York. And you know what? I love sex. I do. I'm really good at it too," is what she wanted to say but kept all of that still hidden inside her head. "I'm an adult, dad, and I'm capable of making my own decisions. But you know something else? I love Tobias, because he is the first person other than Lynn, Mar or Uri who saw me for me. He saw me at my best and he saw me at my worst and he didn't flee, he didn't judge, he just held me, comforted me, loved me for me. I haven't told you anything because I never could. It always seemed I had to fit a certain profile with you to be accepted and loved by my parents. And I'm sick and tired of this shit. You either accept me and my decisions or you can stay the fuck away from me," she yelled now and turned on her heels strutting toward the exit. Tris felt overwhelmed and couldn't keep her frustrations hidden inside anymore. She knew she had hurt her father and she regretted her words as soon as they left her lips. But it was too late. She said those things and she won't be able to take them back.

Tobias needed a moment to register what just happened and then turned around too, running after her, leaving the rest standing there dumbfounded and probably full of questions. But he didn't care about them at the moment. All he could think of was her. He soon caught up to her and pulled her in his arms.

She cried hard and she hated it because she always felt weak when she cried, but she couldn't help it. It was the same story as always. Each time she was around her parents she felt like a little girl again and she hated that. The whole point of her forming the band and having a career far away from her parents was to prove first and foremost to herself that she wasn't weak and that she didn't need anyone to be successful. She wanted to show her parents, but especially her dad that she could make it and maybe then he could be proud of her like he was of Caleb and Shauna. She wasn't into the same stuff they were and she didn't want to be a copy of any of the two or a combination of them. She wanted to be herself and accepted for who she truly was. Did she really ask too much?

The couple sat down on a bench nearby the hospital, Tris trying to calm down, while Tobias tried his best to comfort her and lend all his support. She crawled into his lap and he wrapped her in his arms, keeping her safe and whispering to her that everything would be fine, that he loved her and that he would never leave her, because that's how he felt. He couldn't fathom his life without her. If anyone would have told him that he would ever meet anyone or fall in love with a woman so deeply that he couldn't live without her Tobias certainly would have laughed at that person. But as it happens he did love her that way. He couldn't see any happy life in his future without her and he didn't care if she ever wanted to get married or anything like that, as long as he had her. He wouldn't rush her or push or make her feel less worth than she was. If anything she was worth so much that if he could he would give her the world. But she wasn't one of those girls who asked for things, no, she was the type of person who gave unconditionally and was happier by giving than receiving. But he saw her struggle and he knew that deep down she wanted a good relationship with her parents and her own stubbornness prevented that. He never pushed her to talk to them, but tried to both reassure her that he was always on her side while trying to help her get closer to Andrew and Natalie. He wanted her to be happy, but unless she herself allowed that happiness he couldn't force her.

Thankfully, she talked to him. Each day she opened up a little more. He sometimes felt helpless and sought out Johanna's help to handle situations properly. He blamed himself for not having seen the signs of her abuse earlier and went to talk to the therapist about that. Johanna assured him that he wasn't to blame and he should just focus on the now instead of the past.

Tris avoided talking about the abuse for the most part and Tobias couldn't blame her, but at least she didn't bottle things up like she used to. Marlene even told him that Tris would usually shut down completely and not talk to anyone, but somehow he managed to make her talk, even if it was only a few words in the beginning. He was happy that she trusted him with her heart and soul and he could only offer the same in return. Never before had he confided so much in anyone and it felt good, like really good. He had serious talks about life and whatnot with his friends, but talking to Tris was different. It wasn't just talking, it was building a strong, impenetrable relationship that he was certain would last for a very long time.

Andrew followed them outside after he processed everything for a few minutes. It seemed like he had the same conversation before with his daughter. Suddenly it was that awful Thanksgiving all over again. His daughter running away and he sick with worry that she might get hurt or worse hurt herself. He didn't want to listen to Shauna talking about how her little sister might be depressed. He wanted to know that his little girl was happy. He always did everything he could to make them all happy. Wasn't it enough? Where did he go wrong?

He saw them on a bench snuggled together. He watched them for a while. Just like in the hospital Tobias held her and rubbed her back. Tris talked to him, he was too far away to hear anything, but she talked to him. His daughter usually would shut down and wouldn't let anyone in, but somehow that boy, that young man made her talk. He only wanted what was best for her.

"He truly loves her, Andrew, and I'm not just saying it because he is my son," Marcus said next to him. He hadn't even notice that his friend joined him.

"Did I do something wrong raising her?" Andrew asked, but somehow Marcus could tell the question wasn't so much directed to him but a rhetorical one. Nevertheless, he chose to answer it.

"No. You did the best you could. We are all only human and bound to make mistakes. We make them and then deal with the consequences. For what it's worth, I think you did a good job with Tris and I think that she is one of the finest young people I've ever met, including my own kids. She is bright, creative, strong; she knows exactly what she wants and how to get it, she's a fighter and she's a winner. You contributed to that, my friend. Sure she feels like you smothered her or compared her too much to her brother and sister and maybe you did. But you and I and Tris as well know how much you love her." Andrew turned to look at his friend.

"If it were Marlene, what would you do?" Andrew asked.

"That's a good question. I asked myself the same thing," Marcus said and kept staring at his son and the girl in his arms. "I would probably go berserk and kill the guy," he said with a chuckle and Andrew couldn't stop a small laugh escape his lips. "But in the end I would do the same thing you will."

"Which is?" Andrew asked curious.

"Trust her to make the right decision. Besides, you know Tobias, you've known him since he was born and even if you didn't I know that, you trust Tris, even if you want to deny it right now."

Andrew sighed. He tried to put his thoughts in order before coming up with a reply or something.


	13. Men talk

Tris didn't want to stay there any longer so Tobias called a cab that drove them to his apartment. She didn't want to go home because she wasn't ready to face her father again. She didn't do anything wrong and he had no right to treat her like she was a child.

When they arrived at his apartment Tris went straight to his bedroom. She knew where it was since she visited him a couple of times before without telling anyone. She crawled into his bed and tried to sleep. Tobias let her. As he walked to the door he heard her.

"Will you stay with me?" she asked, her voice a low whisper.

"Of course I will, always," he replied with a smile and she reciprocated it.

He got into bed and gathered her in his arms rubbing her back like he did before until he felt a steady rise and fall of her chest. She fell asleep. But he couldn't sleep. The events from earlier that day were fresh in his mind and if he was honest with himself though expecting a strong reaction from Andrew it still hurt him that the man mistrusted him. He knew Tobias since he was a baby, saw him every day at work, knew the kind of man he was. Sure he was older than Tris, but that didn't change the fact that he loved her. Tobias tried his hardest to convince himself that Andrew overreacted because of the situation itself and not because of him per se.

After a while of just laying there holding the woman he loved he felt his phone vibrate in his pants pocket. He quickly pulled it out as to not disturb her any further and answered it without looking who the caller was. To say he was surprised to hear Andrew Prior's voice on the other end was an understatement.

"Tobias?" Andrew asked.

"Yes," Tobias replied and kept his voice down.

"Is Tris with you?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

"Yes, she's at my place taking a nap," Tobias answered. He decided to be honest with the older man. It wouldn't help anyone if Tris' parents were worried about her when she was safe, but at the same time he wanted Andrew to know that he would protect Tris even from her own father if she chose to ask.

"Good," Andrew replied relieved that his daughter was alright. Ever since the two young people disappeared he hoped that she didn't run off back to New York but stayed in Chicago for a while longer. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," Tobias answered immediately.

"Do you want to meet at a café?" Andrew asked a little nervous.

"How about you come over? I would hate leaving Tris alone," Tobias told the older man.

"I'll be right there," Andrew replied and hung up. Tobias wondered if he did the right thing asking Tris' father to come to his apartment, when she clearly wasn't in the mood to see him. But on the other hand he wasn't going to just leave her when she needed him. He would deal with her when she got up, but he secretly hoped that she would sleep through his meeting with Andrew.

About twenty minutes later a knock was heard on his front door. Tobias carefully closed his bedroom door to avoid waking Tris while he spoke with her father. He opened the door and Andrew stood there, his shoulders slightly slumped forward; he looked defeated. The younger man invited the Prior patriarch in and guided him to the dining room table. After Andrew refused a beverage Tobias sat down on the opposite end and waited for the man to speak, but maybe it would have been better for him to make the first move.

"Andrew, I love Tris with all my heart. I would never hurt her and as long as she will have me I will make anything and everything I can to make her happy," he said, his voice sincere and his eyes never leaving the older man's. Andrew listened and watched him carefully. He had a tough time accepting things. He and his wife talked about everything and while they were both hurt that their daughter kept such a big secret from them it was a new testimony of how little they knew about her and how much Tris felt she needed to keep secrets in the first place. Marcus told him that he did a good job with Tris, but somehow he couldn't see that. He felt like he didn't know his youngest daughter at all. Marcus and Natalie were right. Tobias was a wonderful young man and he could see that what the two felt for each other wasn't just a youthful infatuation, but deeper, more mature feelings. He knew they were all right, Marcus and Natalie and even Shauna, who was still in labor; they told him that Tobias was a good guy and if they loved each other he, as a father, should be happy that his daughter found such a fine young man.

"Tobias, I don't hate you. I was merely shocked and it wasn't so much because of you," Andrew told him truthfully. Tobias gave him a curious look, as if he couldn't quite believe what the older man told him. From where he was standing Andrew seemed very upset about him dating Tris.

"I find that a bit hard to believe, but go on," Tobias said and kept his eyes trained on Andrew.

"Once again I learned of a secret my daughter kept from me and it made me wonder if anything I know about her is true. Upon reflecting I realized something. I kept watching you two, first in the hospital and then outside on the bench. I could see that you love her and she must really love you because I can't remember a time when Tris ever allowed anyone close to her when she was that distraught. I know from her friends that she would even shut them out when she was like that, but somehow you made her talk and see reason or at least enough to not run away," Andrew said leaning back in his chair. "I am not mad that you two are dating, I'm just upset that she wouldn't tell us, at least me and her mother. But at the same time I realize that maybe she doesn't trust us."

"That's not true," Tobias said. "She loves both of you and trusts you, but we both decided to see where our relationship was going before we made it public. I'm aware that I'm older than Tris, but despite her craziness she is mature beyond her years, Andrew, and you can be proud of her. Everything she ever did she did it to make you and Natalie proud. I know how irrational she can be, but as soon as she calms down she regrets it if she was disrespectful. She came a long way since she was a teenager and acted like a spoiled brat."

"I only wish I could know how to make her see that her mother and I are proud of her," Andrew said tapping the glass table with his fingers.

"Trust her. She is very good at what she does, but she always felt like you didn't approve of her choices. She'll kill me if she finds out that I told you this," Tobias said with a small smile and Andrew was curious to find out what he had to say. "Tris admires you and always looked up to you. You were always her hero, even as a kid. She made it up in her mind that when she'll grow up she'll be just like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrew asked, but a proud smile made its way onto his face at hearing that his daughter thought of him so highly.

"It means, she refused to be a rich kid and started working very early. She wanted to build her own career the way you and dad did and to be honest I admire that much about her," Tobias explained but somehow Andrew was more confused than he had been before. "One day she'll explain."

They remained silent for a long while, every now and then glancing toward one another. They were so focused on doing that, they hadn't heard Tris come out.

"Are you talking telepathically?" Tris asked startling them. Andrew looked up and Tobias turned around to watch her enter the room.

"Tris," Andrew said and got up. She stood still and just watched her father.

"What do you want?" she finally asked a little aggressive when he didn't continue and just stared at her. "Did you come here to insult my boyfriend or me? Or did you come to beat him up for falling in love with me? Am I not good enough for a man like Tobias? Or is he not good enough for me?" Tris started crying, the pent up emotions chocking her up. Tobias got up and walked to her embracing her tightly. Andrew watched pained as his daughter wrapped herself around the young man and fell apart.

"Sweetheart, I love you and I'm sorry," Andrew said, tears had gathered in his own eyes. How could his daughter think all that about him?

"Honey, listen to your dad. He didn't come here to fight," Andrew heard Tobias' muffled voice.

"I won't let them break us up," Andrew heard her speak; her voice was mixed with fear and sadness. Why would she think anyone would do that?

"Baby, no one will break us up. I love you and I'll fight anyone who even thinks of that," Tobias vowed, kissing her head and pulling her closer to him. Andrew dared to walk closer to the young couple, his eyes trained on his daughter.

"Tris, no one will break you and Tobias up. We were just shocked, I was shocked, that's all," Andrew said. "I love you, baby girl and I would do anything to see you happy and if Tobias makes you happy I will always thank him for that." Tris turned her head slightly to look at her father. His heart broke again when he saw her tear stained face and the hurt in her eyes. He promised himself that he would do anything to never see that look on her face again. If she loved the boy so much to stand up to her father or anyone for that matter and Tobias would do the same to defend his love then Andrew would accept and support them. It was just a lot to take in all at once and he admitted he didn't act all rational when the truth came out.

"You're not going to be against my relationship with Tobias?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"No," her father answered firmly, but gentle. "I want you happy, sweetheart. I love you more than you'll ever know and I'm very proud of you. Please, forgive me," Andrew said and a tear rolled down his cheek. Tris untangled herself from her boyfriend and hugged her father letting out all the pain and hurt she felt, all the insecurities and doubts that clouded her mind letting them be washed away by her tears. Tobias watched the interaction between father and daughter and was glad that Andrew accepted him and their relationship. It meant a lot to Tris, but it meant the world to Tobias. It meant he could dare to see a future with her.


	14. Joke's on you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Quick message. I just saw "Allegiant". In my country the movie premiered today and I saw it about 20 minutes ago. I just came home to post this real quickly and then I'm heading back to the movie theater to watch it again. It's a great movie, I liked "Insurgent" better though, but "Allegiant" was definitely good. They changed a lot story-wise and I think our hopes for a different finale might just be justified, but I'll leave you to judge that after you see the movie.
> 
> #PledgeAllegiant

Tris and her father spent an hour talking. Tobias left them alone, despite both Prior's insistence he should stay. He felt it would have been better to just leave them to talk things through. He went to his bedroom and closed the door giving them the privacy they needed.

Tobias decided to call his dad and ask about the soon to be mothers and tell him that Tris and her dad were reconciling in his dining/living room.

"Hey, dad," Tobias said as Marcus picked up the phone.

"Hey, son. Where are you?"

"At home."

"Is Tris with you? Natalie is sick with worry and she hasn't heard anything from Andrew either," Marcus informed his son. Tobias felt bad that he hadn't called sooner.

"They are both here. I brought Tris back to my place; she didn't want to go to her parents' and about two hours ago Andrew showed up. They're talking right now and I'm in the bedroom," Tobias fills his father in.

"Good. I told Andrew to call you and if Tris was with you he should talk to her. He is really sorry for his reaction, but I can't really blame him. If it were Marlene I would react probably the same way or worse," his dad said with a chuckle.

"It's not just our relationship, dad," Tobias said sighing. "Andrew is upset that Tris hasn't shared things with him, while Tris is upset that her folks treat her like a baby. It's a vicious cycle and they won't get out of it unless they talk things through and all of them come clean," Tobias said.

"I agree. Andrew raised a fine young woman there, but I see where he's coming from. As a father myself I always want you and your sister to be safe and happy and I'll probably always see you as some preteens or even toddlers," Marcus said and Tobias smiled.

"Still better than mom, who will always see us as her babies," he joked and Marcus laughed.

"You're right, but one day when you will have your own kids you'll understand. Children are the greatest joy, but also the heaviest headache, son. Do not have them without discussing a proper migraine treatment with your physician. Oh, and start therapy right after Tris gets pregnant. You'll need the spiritual guidance," Marcus joked, but at the mention of him and Tris having children Tobias chocked and swallowed hard. He never talked to her about that, especially since their relationship was still new and they still had to figure out a lot of things. But he would lie if he'd deny thinking of that himself. But it was still too soon for that. She still had school and she loved the band. He couldn't take that away from her. If and when they decided to have a family they would have to be sure both of them wanted it.

Tobias hung up and resumed reading a report for work when someone knocked on his door. He got up and opened the door only to find Tris standing on the other side.

"You okay, honey?" he asked concerned while running his hands up and down Tris' arms.

"Yeah," she smiled a little. "Dad got a phone call. Shauna gave birth. It's a girl," she told him. Damn. He was so focused on what his father told him about having kids someday, most likely with Tris if he got what he wanted, that he forgot to ask about his two friends.

"That's great, baby. What about Christina?" he asked.

"She's still not done. Dad and I wanna go back to the hospital to meet the little lady," Tris said and her smile widened.

"Let me just close my laptop and get my jacket," he said and hurried to do that. Before he could leave his room however he looked at Tris who was still standing in the doorway smiling at him. "What?" he asked confused.

"I love you, Tobias. Thank you for everything," she said and leaned up to kiss him. He quickly responded and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you too, Tris," he said resting his forehead on hers. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before they joined Andrew in the living room. Tris picked up her own jacket that was draped over the couch and they left the apartment.

The drive to the hospital was silent. Tris and Tobias sat in the back, while Andrew drove. Tris was still a bit tired from the flight and the emotional rollercoaster she experienced that day. She leaned her head on Tobias' shoulder and he held her tightly against him relishing in the feeling of her warm body.

When they arrived at the hospital Tris stopped in front of the entrance. Both men looked at her confused and she stared back nervously.

"What is wrong?" Tobias asked.

"It's just weird. We left this place after we made our relationship public," she said and looked up at him.

"So? They know. Honey, it doesn't matter anymore. Let them know. If they are happy for us great, if not, that's okay too. The important thing is we are okay, you and me," he told her smiling. "Besides, I doubt anyone would have anything negative to say."

"Why's that?" she asked.

"They're probably too scared you might yell at any of them again," Tobias said and Tris laughed.

"I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to see you, honey," Andrew assured her.

"I guess," she said and they walked to the elevator. "But just in case anyone is not okay we'll just deflect to the baby," she said and Tobias and Andrew laughed.

As the elevator door opened and Andrew stepped out first Tris felt nervous again. She saw her entire family standing there, their eyes trained on them. She couldn't bring herself to look at them for too long but then someone hugged her tightly. Her mother.

"I love you so much, my little girl," Natalie spoke softly to her, as if she was the baby. Tris wrapped her own arms around her mother and smiled. It felt good to be held by her. It felt natural, it felt like she belonged.

"I love you too, mommy."

One by one Tris greeted everyone there and she was surprised to see how understanding and welcoming everyone was. Her dad was right. She worried for nothing. She had a tendency to over think things but she was glad when she was wrong the way she had been in that situation.

"Welcome to the family," Evelyn said and hugged her tightly to her chest. Tris chocked, both from the firm grip and her words. When the older woman let go of her enough to watch her son's girlfriend, Tris stared back shocked and speechless. What did she say?

Evelyn talked to Marcus right after the young couple basically yelled out their relationship. And after they, meaning Natalie, Andrew, Marcus and herself talked about what they've learned and went through everything they deemed worth discussing, Evelyn practically saw the wedding happening, followed by grandchildren. She was so happy. Sure, she would have liked it if her son would have chosen a woman closer to his own age, but she knew the girl and despite her free spirit she loved Tris.

"Are you high?" Tris finally asked with a raised eyebrow and Evelyn frowned. Tobias chuckled, some laughed but Evelyn didn't find anything amusing in it.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I said, are you high?"

"Now, Tris, be polite," her mother scolded.

"Don't get me wrong. It's okay if you are. But could you give me some too?" she asked and Uriah busted out laughing.

"I don't understand," Evelyn tried to elaborate her confusion.

"Evelyn, we're not getting married," Tris said and walked past her to sit down. She suddenly felt very tired.

"Why not?" Evelyn immediately asked.

"Mom," Tobias said half amused, half exasperated by his mother's constant meddling.

"We just started dating, we have a whole life of poor decisions ahead of us. Let's postpone this one for another decade or so. You know, until after my third rehab," Tris said. Tobias knew she was joking but the look on his mother's and actually everyone else's face was priceless.

"Tris," Natalie scolded again.

"But you would make such cute babies," Cara chimed in. The four months pregnant woman was sitting next to Tris and rubbing her protruding belly.

"Since when does one have to be married to pop out kids?" Tris asked nonchalantly. If this would have been any other situation Andrew would have chastised his daughter, but as it happened he was glad she was back to her normal, if somewhat slightly offending, self.

"Well, that's the natural order," Evelyn said.

"Honey, they are still young. I'm sure Tris would like to finish college first and maybe work for a while before she settles down," Marcus said. Tris knew it was meant more to calm Evelyn down from the obvious high she entertained although Tris wasn't aware of a drug that made you insane and stupid at the same time. However, she kept that to herself.

"I'm sorry, Evelyn, but unfortunately your natural order will have to be redefined," she said and got up. She slowly walked toward Tobias rubbing her flat stomach in the process and making sure everyone saw her. "Wedding will have to take place after the baby is born. I'm not gonna look fat in my wedding pictures," she said and her friends tried very hard (even failed a little) to contain their laughter. Tobias stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before he remembered that they hadn't even had sex, so she was just messing with their families.

"You're pregnant?" almost all of them asked in unison.

"I guess it's out now, right honey?" Tobias asked her, playing along.

"I guess so," Tris said looking at him with a smile. Boy, he had no idea what a good actress she was. But he had to admit, it was fun.

"Yes, we're going to be parents," Tobias confirmed.

"Twins," Tris added.

"Boy and girl," Tobias said looking straight at his parents. He had no idea where he got the strength to not burst out laughing.

"In just four months we'll be parents," Tris said and Tobias was sure someone must have figured out at that point that they were joking.

"So soon? We need to plan a baby shower," Cara said.

"And where are you going to live?" Evelyn asked. It seemed Marcus figured out the ruse and snickered, while it dawned on Andrew and Caleb who were silently listening to the young couple.

"Jesus Christ, you guys are gullible," Tris said and started laughing almost hysterically. "I'm gonna check out my niece now." With that she left and walked toward her sister's hospital room.

Shauna was lying down on her bed, while Zeke sat on the love seat holding his newborn daughter, while Hunter watched his new baby sister fascinated. Tris just remained there silent for a moment watching them until Shauna saw her younger sister and spoke to her.

"You came back," Shauna said, her voice seemed tired and sleepy. Zeke and Hunter looked up and both smiled.

"Of course I came back. Someone has to teach the little miss over there to be cool and since her parents aren't it's up to me," she said jokingly as she approached Shauna's bed. Tris leaned down and kissed her sister's forehead. "How are you?" she asked and sat down on the bed.

"Exhausted, but happy," Shauna answered honestly. "How are you?"

"Peachy," Tris replied and Shauna gave her a look. The younger sister sighed. "I'm better now."

"So, you and Tobias, huh?" Shauna asked and pinched her sister a little. "Come on, spill it. How did it happen? When? Tell me," she urged and Tris laughed a little.

"It happened about two months ago. He came to New York and asked me out on a date. We've been dating since," Tris tells her curious sister.

"That's it?" Shauna asked with a raised eyebrow, disappointed her sister wouldn't go into more details.

"I went to New York and the moment I laid eyes on this beautiful creature I fell in love. I knew I had to make her mine so I invited her to go out with me. We had a lovely time and saw each other every weekend since," Tobias told them from the door. Tris smiled at him, while Shauna looked from one to the other. Tobias walked over to kiss Shauna on the forehead, just like Tris did and congratulated his friend. He then walked over to Zeke who was cradling his baby to his chest. Tobias took her in his arms to inspect her more carefully. Tris and Shauna watched him and both women smiled.

"That will be you one day," Shauna said and Tris felt herself blush. She never thought of herself as the motherly type and never really thought she would want children, but ever since she and Tobias became a couple and more importantly confessed how they truly felt for the other she started to imagine a future like that with him. However, she wouldn't let her sister know that.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to that," she said and Tobias looked up. Tris smiled and winked at him and he could practically hear her comment before she spoke. "If I wanna look like an orca I'll get myself knocked up and then go through the slaughter house to get my evil spawn out of me," she said and her mother who just came in chocked and started coughing.

"Beatrice," Natalie scolded.

"What?" Tris asked nonchalantly and Tobias rolled his eyes. He was glad she was back to her old self. As Natalie and Shauna continued talking to Tris Zeke leaned in closer.

"If you hurt that girl I'm gonna kick you stupid, Eaton," he threatened. Tobias looked at his best friend and smiled.

"I'll never do that. Besides, you'd have to stay in line to kick my ass," he said jokingly and the other man smirked. "You have a beautiful daughter, by the way," he said looking back at the baby.

"Yeah, she's gorgeous," Tris said walking over to see her new niece better. "You sure she's yours?"

"Tris," both Natalie and Shauna said appalled that the youngest Prior would imply something so outrageous. Just then the baby started drooling and Tris snickered.

"Never mind. She's definitely a Pedrad. I would recognize that mindless drool anywhere."

"Tris," both women said again and Tris started laughing.

"Come here, sweetheart," Tris said and got the baby from Tobias. They were careful with her and the moment Tris had her niece securely in her arms she watched her mesmerized. "Hey, little lady. I'm your aunt Tris. I'm the coolest person in your family. Your uncle Uriah will say he is the coolest, but he is wrong. He is the most disgusting of all of us."

"Hey, don't teach her that," Uriah said coming in.

"I'm just telling her the truth. But don't worry, baby girl, we'll all love you even if you are just like your uncle. Besides, you have me and I'll teach you how to rock disgusting. You'll be the most disgusting little thing on this side of the planet and we'll gonna make a superstar out of you. Right, dumbass?" she asked Uriah who immediately nodded his head in approval. "Thankfully, you are related to me too so there's a chance you're gonna be a cutie and smart and if there's time left we're gonna make you a rock star. Sound good?" Tris cooed at the baby. Everyone in the room watched the young woman talking to the newborn. Tobias smiled, hoping that one day that will be his child in her arms. Her mother and sister had tears in their eyes, while Zeke patted Tobias' shoulder with a smirk on his face. But then the baby pooped. "Ew, you are just like your uncle: a stinky pooper. Here, daddy, you can have her back. I don't want her anymore," she said and carefully placed the baby back in Zeke's arms.

"You sure you don't want to see how a diaper is changed?" Zeke asked.

"No, I already had a nervous breakdown today. But I'll come back if I need to vomit," she said and left the room.

As she exited the room she heard a cry. Christina. Tris looked from the door down the hall and saw her uncle Joe come closer. He told her that Christina was about to give birth and they all should pray. Tris never understood why everyone always insisted on praying, but she didn't argue. She loved her uncle and cousin and even tolerated Christina. Well, she kind of started to love her like a cousin as well. They all held hands while Joe asked God to watch over mother and child and for everyone to always be happy and healthy. It took them another hour until Will's and Christina's daughter was born.


	15. One

The four friends left two days after Shauna and Christina gave birth. They had a few classes still and had to prepare for the concerts that followed. Tris and Tobias sat down with both their parents and talked. Evelyn still wanted to plan a wedding but Tobias had to put his foot down. He was a grown man and he didn't even think Tris was ready for such a huge commitment. They still had time. Reluctantly, Evelyn agreed and the six of them just talked. Mainly Tris talked since everyone wanted to know about New York and how school was going. Tris knew that everyone would be upset when they found out about Divergent, but she hoped that by explaining why she and her friends did it the parents would understand. Tris promised to keep more in touch with her mom and dad and avoid more fights like they had in the past.

On the weekend before the anniversary of Factions Co. Tobias flew to New York to discuss the details of the band's concert and the revelation of who the members truly are. They all agreed that only their families would find out the truth since they still wanted to be able to walk down the street without being hunted by the paparazzi.

Matt came up with a brilliant idea. The concert wouldn't take place until Saturday. The best occasion for them to tell their parents was on Friday during the small reunion where only their select group was present. They decided to use one of the larger conference rooms in the Factions Co. building and during a song a large wall should be raised to cover the band, while images from previous concerts where shown. While the music kept playing the band members would get rid of make-up, wigs and outfits and by the time the song would end four frames would appear and show how their stage personas would turn into the regular people revealing who they truly are. The wall would be lowered and instead of seeing Shailene, Keiynan, Suki and Rosa everyone would see Tris, Uriah, Marlene and Lynn. They still had to work out some kinks and practice that part on location but they all agreed that would be the best way to tell their parents.

"Nervous?" Tobias asked her while they were in bed. Tris had her tablet in her lap and pretended to play some game when Tobias noticed that she wasn't even looking at the screen.

"Huh? No. Why do you ask?" she asked him confused.

"You've been staring at the comforter for five full minutes while your character in the game is attacked by goblins," he said a little amused.

"Ogres," she corrected.

"Whatever, Prior. So, what's on your mind?" he insisted. Tris turned her head to look at him. He had a concerned expression on his face, but tried to hide it. She knew that he would walk on eggshells around her when she spontaneously decided to shut the world out and she couldn't blame him. She always tried to keep him in the loop, though, but sometimes she felt overwhelmed. But that night two things where on her mind: the upcoming concert at Factions Co. and the fact that she wanted them to be intimate. She loved him and he loved her and she was ready for a while but somehow it was never the right time. He never pushed her or demanded they did it, but Tris wasn't blind. He often went into her bathroom first thing in the morning when he was there overnight and took a shower, a cold one she assumed, since the tiles weren't heated when she used it afterwards. She felt sorry for that and wanted to do something, but at the same time she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't let her pleasure him if he couldn't do the same for her. Unlike other boyfriends, he put her needs before his, which she found adorable and made her trust him even more.

"The concert," she said, but didn't mention the second reason.

"It'll be fine, babe, you'll see." They had talked about it plenty of times; and not just the two of them but the entire group including Matt and Cameron. They knew that everyone would be pissed, but eventually they would get over it. What these four young people did was amazing and they did it all by themselves. Sure, Cameron helped them, but in the end their talent, perseverance and discipline got them on top of the musical Olympus.

"I know, but I'm still nervous about what everyone will say. I kind of promised mom and dad not to lie to them anymore," she said and put her tablet away on her nightstand. She snuggled under the comforter and Tobias embraced her, spooning her.

"No matter what happens I'll be there. And I'm sure they'll be thrilled once the shock wears off. They all like the band. For instance, a few months ago, before we got together, I listened to a radio station and one of your songs came on. I loved the tune and turned it louder. Dad came into my office because he had something to drop off and waited for the song to end. He actually liked it, which is saying a lot considering that he and all our parents are Abba and Queen fans," he said with a chuckle and Tris laughed a little.

"So, you're saying, because your dad liked one song he's gonna love the idea that his little girl lied to him?" Tris asked and Tobias snorted a little. He kissed her neck and unbeknownst to him he ignited a blazing fire inside his girlfriend. Tris felt heat rush through her body; every nerve ending seemed on fire. She felt herself sweating and her breathing increased. Tobias kept saying something but Tris didn't hear a thing. Her heart beat was too loud for her to hear anything above that. She swallowed hard. She wanted their first time together to be perfect, but since when was anything these two did perfect and according to plan? She turned around so abruptly and crashed her mouth over his that for a moment Tobias remained paralyzed and unable to comprehend what had gotten into her. But the moment she pressed her small body against his and grinded just the right way Tobias let out a low growl and pulled her even closer to him. If she wanted to stop in that instant Tobias wasn't sure if he could. He would never hurt her, but he was so turned on in that moment that he couldn't stop himself from touching her.

Tobias pushed her into the mattress and covered her body with his. He kissed her lips and explored her mouth with his tongue. His right arm sustained his weight, while his left hand caressed her side, kneading her breast and tickling her heated skin. It was so long since Tris was with a man, but despite that and despite that she never was with Tobias before she seemed to know what she was doing and what he liked. She decided to take control and pushed him off of her. Confused, he looked at her to see if he did something wrong, but the dilated pupils and look she gave him was reassurance enough that he didn't do anything she didn't want him to. He laid down on his back and Tris straddled his hips. She bent forward and started kissing his neck and whatever was exposed of his collar bone. But that wasn't nearly enough. She pulled back and motioned him to follow. When he was sitting she savagely claimed his lips again and he wrapped his arms around her. He had been with women before but none was like Tris. The passion with which she created her music was the same she made love with. She gave herself completely without resistance and without remorse. He was so hard that he thought he might explode. If they had continued any longer they might have had to go to the hospital, because Tobias was sure that without the proper release he would have needed a doctor.

"Tris," he said breathless to her. Tris stopped her kisses and ministrations and looked at him, her eyes glazed with desire and love.

"What?" she asked, just as breathless as he was.

"If you're not ready for more we have to stop. I won't be," he didn't get to finish because Tris pushed him on his back and crawled down his body, pulling his sleeping pants and briefs with her.

She threw the comforter on the floor and his pants and underwear over her shoulder and then admired him. He was gifted, Tris couldn't deny that. She wondered if she ever saw anything like that, but somehow she couldn't remember any of her ex-lovers being that well endowed. She absentmindedly licked her lips in anticipation. She was never a big fan of oral sex, but seeing this fine specimen of a man's member she couldn't help herself but want to taste him. She bent forward and kissed the tip of it and then ran her tongue from base to tip. She watched Tobias carefully. He had his eyes closed and his head slightly thrown back. He was breathing heavily and he gripped the sheets tightly. Tris smirked and then opened her mouth wide. She wondered if his rod would even fit into it. She slowly lowered her head over his member and enveloped it as best she could. He gasped at the contact and opened his eyes. Tris looked down, concentrated on what she was doing, but Tobias watched her intently. He barely held back at the sight of her pleasuring him orally. He always wondered how it would feel like, but what she did to him in that moment was even better than any fantasy he ever had.

Tris bobbed her head up and down his length but he was big and she couldn't swallow all of him; she had made up for the rest with her small hand. She synchronized her head and hand and increased her pace until she felt him swell and before he could utter any sound he spilled himself deep inside her mouth. Tris was no stranger to the male juices, but somehow his tasted good; sweet, yet masculine; she couldn't quite describe it. She eagerly drank all that was in her mouth and wiped her face and hand. He had made quite a mess, but she didn't care at the time and doubted she would any other time that followed.

"Wow," he managed to say after he caught his breath. He grinned like a schoolboy who just saw a girl's underwear in the locker room. He felt shy, but at the same time it felt right, like it was supposed to happen just like it did. The shyness, he assumed, came probably from the fact that she took charge, but he couldn't find a reason to be upset about that. His other girlfriends would either let him do all the work or were too overzealous and just made the act dirtier than it was or should have been. Not to be misunderstood, Tobias Eaton wasn't against dirty in the bedroom, but even there, he thought, a woman should remain classy and not become a street hooker. If he wanted that he could just rent one and be done with it.

"If I wouldn't be so impressed I would give you some blunt comment, but, damn, you're a lucky dude," she said and smiled widely. Tobias laughed. He loved the way she talked and acted, so carefree and real. She never felt the need to hide, well, with the obvious exception. But she was so eager to explore and be explored, never afraid of expressing her sexuality, but always making sure to not go overboard. He admired that a lot. She could be sexy as hell wearing PJ pants and a Snoopy tee shirt and have tomato sauce from her pizza smeared over her right cheek. Somehow she pulled the sexy look off in anything she wore, although, he might have been biased (every time).

"You didn't have to do that," he said looking her straight in the eyes.

"I know, but I wanted to."

"I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything you're not ready to do. I told you, I can wait," he told her reassuringly.

"Too bad, 'cause I can't. Now, ravish me," she said with a smirk. It took Tobias a moment to understand the meaning of what she said, but when it dawned on him that his girlfriend was ready to take a step further in their relationship he reached for her and pulled her to him. He fell backwards on the mattress and she laid on top of him. They kissed passionately and with abandon, but the heat between them slowly rose to a blazing fire and the two young lovers discarded the rest of their garments.

The fiery make-out session left them both breathless and panting. Tris was lying on the bed, while Tobias hovered over her taking in her beauty. She felt self-conscious, despite having heard only compliments in the past. But this was different. This was him. This was Tobias. His opinion truly mattered to her. As she tried to cover her naked breasts before him he gently grabbed her by the wrist and lifted her hand to his mouth. He kissed her palm, then her wrist; he kissed downward to her elbow and then bended forward to capture her already swollen lips. Unlike before, the kiss was gentle and filled with love and when they parted they stared into each other's eyes with adoration and respect.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, needing to hear her one last time.

"Yes, Tobias, I'm sure. I want this, I want you," she softly whispered, chocked up by the emotions she felt in that moment and were mirrored in his gestures and touches. He smiled at her before claiming her mouth once again.

Tris mentally prepared herself for weeks for that very moment. She talked to Johanna, she pictured it in her mind. She knew from past experiences that anything could trigger a negative reaction and she might end up curled up in a ball in the corner of her room, sobbing, lethargic, lost.

But this was no ordinary lover. This was Tobias, her true love, she was sure of it. He never pushed her and was the poster boy for patience and support. He would go to Johanna just to make sure she would be fine. Tris appreciated it, but she knew that he didn't really need guidance. Tobias told her about the series of rapes on campus when he was a college student and she knew he attended the seminars. But what happened to her was different; rape, yes, but different. She couldn't remember the act itself and as she analyzed her situation with the two guys after Drew she realized that it wasn't so much something they did or said or even the fact that she once got close to having sex with one of them, but the fact that she herself wasn't ready.

When she started therapy she learned many things and the most important, in her opinion, was to love herself. But when she almost had sex with that one guy she didn't go to his place for herself, but because she wanted to please him and if that would have happened she would have fallen into an old routine she so desperately tried to get out of.

It was different with Tobias. He was more than just a boyfriend, he was her best friend; probably the only person who truly got to know her without any make-up or a fake attitude or some kind of show to please others. No, he saw her for who she truly was with faults and qualities alike and he didn't care. He loved her. They both knew she was damaged, but not beyond repair, not beyond the point of being mended and she knew deep down that he would be by her side no matter what.

Tobias leaned down and suckled at her pulse point eliciting soft moans from her. His lips traced the outline of her collar bone, peppering the skin with feather-light kisses, until he reached her rounded mounds. He kissed the hollow in between her breasts, breathing in her scent, before gently taking one hardened bud into his mouth and biting it lightly. Tris arched her back, trying to get even closer to his mouth, while her hands traced the muscles in his abs. She reached as far as she could to embrace him and he pressed himself closer to her. His ministrations continued southward and when he reached her navel he traced it with his tongue before gently dipping it inside making her moan louder than before. As his tongue traveled toward her moist womanhood he felt himself getting harder again and the mere thought of finally being with the woman he loved made him grin stupidly. He never felt that way before and he was sure he would never feel the same again.

As he reached the spot where she needed him most he pulled back slightly to admire her in her entire splendor. He smiled lovingly at her; he never found her lovelier than in that moment. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were sparkling, pupils dilated, her lips were swollen and slightly parted, as if she couldn't get enough air into her aching lungs (and they hadn't even started yet), her chest was rising and falling and he could tell that she was nervous, just like he was, but the smile that grazed her beautiful face reassured him that it was something they both wanted. Her skin was sweaty and he could see the goose bumps, which made him smirk.

Tobias settled at the bottom of the bed spreading her legs to offer him enough room to move. He licked her folds for the first time and he wondered how anyone could taste as sweet as she did. He dipped his tongue inside her and Tris started writhing. The sounds she made were somewhere between moans and grunts, curses and pleas. She wasn't entirely sure what she was asking for but somehow Tobias understood that foreign language she seemed to have come up with.

"More", she pleaded, her voice strained and the word prolonged. Tobias replaced his tongue with two digits pleasuring her the best he could, hoping he wouldn't hurt her, but as he watched her face contort in sweet agony he saw how much she enjoyed what he was doing to her. He increased the pace with which his fingers entered her core repeatedly, all the while lapping her juices. Tris lifted herself off the mattress and Tobias had to push her back down. He gently nibbled her sensitive bundle of nerves and that was enough for her to come undone.

Tris panted heavily as Tobias laid down right next to her, caressing her stomach and watching her come down from her orgasmic high. He always enjoyed looking at her; it was as if he couldn't get enough. But seeing her like that was new and exciting and he couldn't wait to see her after he made love to her.

She looked up at him and smiled; the satisfaction evident on her face as she reached out to caress his cheek. He bent down and pecked her lips avoiding deep kisses since she was still trying to breathe normally.

"Wow," she said, copying his earlier statement. He smirked. He never got complaints from former girlfriends but this was different. He wanted Tris to feel great. He trusted her and knew that she wouldn't seek another lover and he was sure of his skills in bed; however, he wanted everything to be perfect for her.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he told her honestly.

"Enjoyed? You're kidding?" she asked propping herself up on her elbows. "That was amazing. I don't think I ever came that hard from just oral," she confessed and blushed. Tobias smiled. He found it cute that she blushed whenever they talked about these things. He knew she wasn't a prude, but she also wasn't one of those girls to flaunt her body and talk dirty outside of the bedroom, not that they had many such talks.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked and Tris nodded. "What changed? I mean, you know, that you decided to take this step, not that I'm complaining", he quickly explained. Tris smiled at his rambling.

"I guess I was ready for a while now, I was just waiting for the right time. I trust you, Tobias, and I know you would never hurt me in any way. It was more a matter of bringing up the courage to take this step," she said with a nervous chuckle.

"Tris, you are one of the bravest people I know. Everything I know about you amazes me to no end. No matter how hard times are you keep on fighting. Sure, there were times when you wanted to give up, but you kept going," he told her gently, while caressing her cheek.

"I always had help. There were times when I just wanted to die," she said. Tris told him right after he found out about Drew how she often got depressed. It wasn't pretty. Some days she would spent holed up in her room, often drinking or even taking pills. She told him how she would lie in her bed and just don't care about anything. She told him that she did love Drew, probably in a sick way, even after what he did to her. She told him about the nightmares that kept plaguing her the nights after the truth came out. Therapy helped her a lot. Also the meds Johanna prescribed. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she had to take them. If anything she wanted him to know that she was a mess, but getting better. She still had nightmares, often when Tobias wasn't there to hold her during the night. She got better, though. Each day she took a step forward and healed a little more until one day, she was sure, she would no longer be a victim, but a survivor.

"Tris, I know, but I'm certain you would have kept fighting even without it. You are a strong person, but let me be strong with you. I love you more than anything, baby, and I'll always be here for you," he vowed as he cupped her face and pressed a soft, yet promising kiss.

When they parted they stared into each other's eyes before their desire won over again and Tobias settled between her parted thighs. He didn't rush things; he wanted to savor every minute with her. They kissed softly at first but then lust took over. Tobias pushed his tongue inside her mouth and mated it with hers, eliciting soft moans from the woman beneath him. His lips left her swollen ones and traveled along her slender neck to her collarbone where he nibbled and placed soft kisses along it and then settled over her breasts. He bent down and kissed the soft skin between the two mounds. He stuck his tongue out and traced the outline of both breasts and then alternated sucking and biting both nipples until Tris was a writhing mess. Tobias smirked, but continued his ministrations as he traveled further south to her naval where he dipped his tongue inside just enough to tickle her and make her giggle. He loved the sounds Tris was making, but in that moment when they were so intimate he fully appreciated what each of them meant.

As Tobias reached her womanhood he licked her folds a few times, but unlike before he barely could contain his own excitement. He couldn't wait any longer; the tension in his rock hard member was painful and it took all he had in him to not come right then before he even entered her. He knew he wouldn't last long; it had been too long and he wanted her too much to be able to restrain himself any longer. He looked up at her, her eyes clouded by lust, her pupils dilated, her breathing rapid and her skin covered in goose bumps. He kissed her flat stomach before lifting himself up, kneeling between her parted legs. He grabbed his rod in his right hand and stroked it a few times. With the tip of it he rubbed against her wet folds and slowly pushed inside her for the first time. She was tighter than he thought, but then again she told him she wasn't with anyone since that dreadful incident with her ex. He looked up to watch her. She had her eyes closed, her hands held the sheets tightly; he could see her knuckles whitening from the force she used on them. She bit her lip, keeping her moans from escaping and absentmindedly he did the same as he pushed even further.

It almost felt to Tris like she was a virgin all over again. She anticipated some difficulty when she thought of the last time she had sex. Sure, she played around with her toys, but it wasn't the same. And after she saw Tobias' member she swallowed hard. She actually braced herself to some pain, but as he entered her for the first time and stretched her after so long of being empty, she suddenly felt whole and fulfilled, not just physically, but emotionally as well. It was like he was the missing puzzle piece she couldn't find to finish the amazing colorful picture that her life has become.

Once he was fully sheathed he allowed her to get used to his girth before moving. He kissed her softly between her breasts and when he looked up Tris was smiling at him. He was nervous, but that simple gesture reassured him. Tris gave him a slight nod and he pulled almost out before pushing back in, repeating this action a few times before she wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed her heels into his backside to make him pick up the pace. He kindly obliged and increased the speed of his thrusts, but kept them deep and long. He captured her lips in a sensual, yet loving kiss that left them both breathless. He couldn't hold back any longer and increased his speed anew.

"Don't hold back, baby," Tris told him reassuringly. She knew how much he struggled ever since they became a couple. He never said anything to her but she could tell that he became slightly frustrated. She was happy though that he didn't insist on them being intimate before. It just helped her trust him more.

"I'm not going to come before you," he told her stubbornly.

"We can do this again," she said with a smile, but he shook his head.

Tobias increased his speed one more time, his thrusts became quicker and shallower and he could see that Tris was nearing her own climax as well. He reached between their bodies and stimulated her sensitive, swollen bundle of nerves, while sucking hard on one nipple to help her reach her peak. Tris fell apart a moment later, moaning loudly and arching her back with such a force that she lifted Tobias as well. His name rolled off her lips like a prayer as she felt herself shattering into a million pieces, but happier than she ever was before. Tobias followed her a couple of thrusts later shouting her name and spilling himself deep inside her womb.

Unable to sustain his weight any longer he collapsed on top of her and breathed heavily, his mind in a fog of pure bliss, his ears ringing, his blood running rapidly through his overheated body.

He remained there a few minutes. He couldn't have lifted his body off of her even if he wanted to, but Tris didn't mind. Her legs were still on both sides of his body and her arms snaked around his back rubbing it gently. He was covered in sweat, but it was a good thing. He kept his head in the crook of her neck and placed soft kisses against her salty skin. But then he stood up so abruptly that Tris was confused. She feared she might have done something wrong, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what.

"Tris," he said almost in a whisper, his eyes wide and scared.

"What?" she asked alerted. What could she have done to cause that reaction in him?

"Protection," he said almost panicked. Tris blinked a few times and stared at him. "We forgot about protection. I'm so sorry. I should have thought about it. I'm so stupid. Please, forgive me. And I came inside you. I'm such a moron," he kept rambling and stood up. He paced in front of the bed and Tris watched him. It dawned on her that she forgot to tell him about her taking the pill, but then again they didn't really discuss sex at all. She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. She didn't want to upset him further. She sat up and crossed her legs under her watching him for a moment before she spoke up.

"Tobias," she said but he kept pacing and running his hands through his short hair. She doubted he even heard her. "Tobias," she said a little louder.

He turned to look at her. His expression was serious, even grave. He felt like he could kick himself for being so careless, but in the heat of the moment all he cared about was her and he forgot about the most basic thing: protection. They just started dating, just had sex for the first time. He knew he wanted more from her than just a short relationship and he was fairly sure she wanted something long lasting too. But a baby would have been catastrophic in that moment. They weren't ready, she wasn't ready. She still had school and the band and he didn't want her to think that she would have to give all that up to be a mom and wife. But at the same time he didn't want to leave her alone in the event she got pregnant. It was his mistake too. But maybe she would get an abortion. He looked at her intently. At the thought of an abortion his insides churned and turned. He was a big believer in women having the right to choose what to do with their bodies and he would support and love her no matter what. However, thinking that the two of them might have just created some tiny life and then having to terminate it because they weren't ready for such a big commitment made Tobias want to punch himself. He loved her and he would love any child they might have.

"Tobias," she spoke softly and reached out for his hand. He kept staring at her and Tris could tell that he was debating inside his head what to do or say to her. She felt sorry for him and really guilty that she made him go through all that, because she missed telling him about the pill she was taking.

"Tris, whatever happens, I love you and I'll always love you. I know we haven't been together for long, but at the same time there isn't another person in this world I know better than you or who knows me better than you know me. If you are pregnant we'll get through it. I'll support whatever decision you make, but know that if you decide to keep it I'll be more than happy to be the father of your child," he told her in one breath. Tris' eyes widened. She knew he was a standup guy, but she never thought he would feel so strongly about it. "We can get married if you want or not. Whatever you decide, I'll be right beside you."

"Tobias," she said his name again, with a smile on her face. She stretched her hand out one more time and Tobias took it. He sat down on the bed staring at her. "I love you, honey, more than I've ever loved anyone before. I doubt I'll ever love anyone again. I agree, we haven't been together for long, but I never felt such a strong connection to anyone before. I'm not ready yet for more than being your girlfriend and I hope you understand that," she said and watched him carefully. She always feared that one day he'll get tired of her and leave. She often discussed that fear with Johanna and occasionally with Eric. She didn't really understand why she chose Eric out of all people to discuss that, especially since she knew the man had feelings for her, but they were honest with each other and he actually gave her good advice. He told her, repeatedly, to talk to Tobias and tell him her fears, but she never found the courage to do that.

"Tris, if you choose to be my girlfriend for the rest of our lives, nothing more, nothing less, I'm fine with that," he lied. Of course, he wanted more, but he didn't want to pressure her.

"You're lying," she said with a frown. "I know you better than you think, Tobias. I'm not saying we'll always be just girlfriend and boyfriend, but for now that's all I'm ready for. Please, be patient with me and don't lie," she said, emphasizing her biggest fear. She could handle many things, except him lying to her. He nodded. He knew where she was coming from and he could punch himself for even doing it in the first place. "I know you love me and that if it would come down to it you would step up and recognize the baby as yours and even marry me. But this isn't 1800 something. Even if our parents, Evelyn and mom especially," she added quickly and he chuckled, "would love to plan our wedding and baby shower and whatnot, we'll decide when the time is right. I don't want to marry you because we slipped and got pregnant. Even if we would have a baby out of wedlock that's our deal and we shouldn't care what anyone, including our parents, has to say. I love them, I swear, but I won't let them dictate my life. We're both adults, well you are more of an adult than me and not just because of the age gap," she said and both laughed a little. "When the time comes and we both feel we want to take that next step we will do it together regardless of what anyone else thinks, okay?" she said and Tobias nodded. He kept staring at her as he replayed her words in his mind. When he realized something he smiled. Tris never said she wouldn't marry him, she just said they should wait, which meant she wasn't against the idea as he feared.

"Does this mean I can hope to see you walk down the aisle in a white dress some day?" he asked smiling.

"Babe, we could go to the supermarket right now and I can walk every aisle there, dressed in white, pink, black, whatever color you want," she said jokingly and he rolled his eyes. "But yeah, some day," she added softly.

"You're crazy," he told her.

"About you," she replied.

"Good, 'cause I'm crazy about you, sweetheart."

"I should hope so," she said smirking before leaning in and kissing him. He rested his forehead on hers and stared into her eyes, when he remembered that they still did something dumb.

"What about, you know," he said and pointed toward her lap.

At first she wanted to say something like "sure let's have sex again", but then reconsidered it. He was still anxious about all that and she wanted to put his mind at ease.

"I'm on the pill. Don't worry, babe," she told him and wrapped one arm around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

"Yeah?" he asked, relieved.

"Yeah. I started taking it about two months ago. I wasn't really ready, but I wanted to be in case this might happen," she told him.

"Good thing one of us thought of protection," he said sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Yeah, good thing," she said and kissed his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Any thoughts or opinions?


	16. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm really sorry for the delay. Had a lot on my plate this week.

Finally, July 15th came and the four band members prepared themselves to travel to Chicago. Tobias drove to New York to help them with the last minute stuff. Since they had their equipment and other necessary tech they needed in Chicago to perform, Cameron rented a moving truck. They decided to drive rather than fly to keep their equipment safe. Usually, Cameron would rent a small airplane for that, but a little road trip sounded appealing to them. The concert was moved to July 17th, while the band would perform a few songs just for their families on the evening of July 16th.

Tris and Tobias drove in his car, while Lynn and Marlene went with Matt in his and Cameron drove the truck, accompanied by Uriah. They left early in the morning to avoid traffic as much as possible and would get to Chicago later that day, hopefully around eight p.m.

Everyone knew that the youngsters would arrive on July 17th, so Matt and Cameron invited Lynn, Marlene and Uriah to stay at their house, while Tris went to stay with Tobias.

"Mom asked me to invite you over for dinner," Tobias told Tris as they drove down the highway.

"Babe, it's too early in the morning to tell you that I'm so not going to your parents' to listen to some crazy idea of your mother's to get us hitched," she told him with a yawn. Tobias chuckled.

"Come on. I'm a catch," he teased.

"Yeah, a six feet catch," she said and laughed. "A huge catch," she added and he laughed with her.

"Good genes. Women look for that in a man," he kept teasing her.

"Yeah?" she asked and he nodded grinning. "Good for them."

"But seriously now. I told mom I wouldn't even tell you if she plans on bringing anything like marriage up again."

"What did she say?"

"She frowned but then agreed. I think she's curious to find out what I see in you," Tobias said and kept watching the road ahead. Tris remained quiet. She often wondered the exact same thing. What could have prompted him to even consider her to be his girlfriend? She wasn't extremely beautiful like the models you see in magazines, but neither was she ugly. She was short, she often acted childish, she had a temper, she had quite a colorful vocabulary. She was the exact opposite of what anyone like him would choose for a girlfriend. But they often had talks about that very topic. And one time Tobias asked her what she saw in him. He told her that looks don't count, which made them both laugh. Tris thought about it and realized there were numerous things that attracted her to him: his cleverness, his kindness, his humor, his unconditional support, his courage, his stubbornness. She could have continued because she wanted all of that, good and bad, quality and flaw. In her eyes he was perfect. He smiled at her admission and duplicated her response. He loved her for her, including everything good and everything bad about her. For him, she was perfect.

"Then maybe I should give the old hen a try," she said and he almost chocked on the water he just drank.

"Damn, babe. Don't call her that," he said laughing.

"You mean, to her face," she said and he laughed even harder.

"Especially, to her face. So, you in?" he inquired and she nodded. "And just for the record, you already won dad over. Not to mention Mar."

"Good to know," she said and leaned her head on his shoulder as best she could.

"I expect some cuddle time later," he told her and she laughed, before nodding her head.

About halfway home they stopped to eat. They had snacks in each car, but decided to stop for a real meal in a diner on the road. They ordered the mandatory hamburger with fries and drowned it all with some milkshakes and sodas. Tobias couldn't remember how his life was before he was part of their group. Sure, he loved his friends and wouldn't trade them for anything or anyone, but being among the younger people in their families he realized that they had a stronger bond than the rest of them.

"I'm nervous," Marlene said, sitting between her brother and Uriah. Their booth was a little crowded, but they managed to eat anyways. Tris was the only one who sat on one of Tobias' long legs, which neither minded.

"Why?" Lynn asked her, from across the table where she sat between Matt and Cameron.

"I'm anxious about what mom and dad will say about Divergent," she said.

"I'm kind of nervous too," Uriah said and ate his fries.

"Sissy," Lynn teased him and Uriah threw a fry at her, which made her grin.

"I'm a bit nervous too," Tris said and everyone looked at her, like she suddenly grew a second head. "What?"

"A bit?" Matt asked her with a raised eyebrow. Tris was a nervous wreck long before they even left the Big Apple. Tobias tried to calm her down, but just as he or anyone thought she kept it together she freaked out again. Tris really wanted to put the rebellious part of her life behind her and have a good relationship with her parents. She tried really hard to have them more involved in her life and they talked more often on the phone or via Skype. Her mom was thrilled about her dating Tobias. Her dad still had his moments when he got nostalgic, but he understood that Tris was an adult and was more than capable of making her own decisions.

"Okay, fine. I'm very nervous," she said and buried her face in Tobias' shoulder. He wrapped his free arm around her and continued eating his burger. He knew that she was nervous and they talked about it, even in the car. But he told her he would be there for her no matter what. He even said he would kidnap her and take her away with him to a deserted island where they would live forever. She laughed hard, but the idea of him and her spending some time alone on an island wasn't too bad. She could easily see herself on a white sandy beach, the warm afternoon sun tanning her otherwise pale skin, the salty air tickling her nose, that gorgeous man lying next to her, both of them sipping some colorful drinks, while the only sound they would hear would be the waves crashing against some nearby rocks.

"It'll be fine, pumpkin," Cameron said and chuckled at her childish behavior.

They finished their meal and continued their journey. They still had at least a six-hour drive ahead and Tris convinced Tobias to let her drive for a while until the next rest stop. They got into the car and as they drove off Tobias turned on the radio. They didn't pay much attention to the music since Tris had something on her mind.

"Hon?"

"Yeah?"

"How about we go away for a few days?" she asked him and he looked at her curiously.

"Go where?" he asked confused.

"I don't know. The beach, Hawaii maybe," she said looking at the road ahead.

"Sure. Just tell me when," he said leaning in and kissing her cheek. She smiled. She was really hoping he would agree. It had been ages since she last had a proper vacation and she was looking forward to spending it with him.

"It would have to be after the concerts. I'd rather spend a whole week with you than just a couple of days. I mean, we can always see each other but I want us to relax and not worry about anything else," she told him earnestly.

"Sounds good. But we have to plan for after September," he told her and she glanced his way.

"Why?" she asked confused.

"Every year we have projects starting in September. After the initial meetings with the CS division and project development, necessary to coordinate the design, production and marketing groups, I can take some days off, actually up to two weeks," he explained and Tris frowned. "What? Not okay?" he asked her.

"No, I mean yeah, it's fine. I just didn't get all the technical jibber jabber in between," she said and he chuckled.

"How about October?" he asked.

"I guess that'll be okay, although I don't know my schedule yet. Maybe we should wait for later this year and decide then," she suggested.

After Tris drove for about four hours they stopped to rest for a half hour. Tobias took over for her, because he rested enough and was more familiar with Chicago than she was. Tris talked on the phone with her uncle and they decided to meet the next day for brunch and go through everything before heading to the Factions Co. building where they would set up and practice their big revelation. They said goodbye and Matt and Cameron drove to their house, while Tobias turned and drove into the opposite direction toward his apartment.

Once they got there Tobias took their luggage, which wasn't much, just two carry-on suitcases. He deposited them in his bedroom while Tris ordered them some food. They sat down on his couch and snuggled while waiting for their food to arrive. They didn't talk much, both exhausted from the long ride, but they were happy they took the car, despite the drive being long and exhausting both lovers had fun the entire time.

After the food arrived and they sat down at the dining table they discussed about the show the next day, but Tobias made sure to change the subject quickly. He knew she would get restless again and wanted to avoid that.

"So, vacation," he said and she looked up from her spaghetti.

"What about it?" she asked slurping a little.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked smiling.

"I don't know. Beach?"

"Hawaii? Or would you prefer Europe?" he inquired further.

"Wouldn't it be too cold to go to the beach there in the fall? I mean it would be okay in Hawaii, but Europe," she said and leaned back in her seat adjacent to his.

"Well, we could go to Hawaii and then later to Europe. What do you say?" he asked her hopeful. He really wanted to be just with her, no job, no band, no family; just the two of them.

"We could. But Hawaii first," she said with a smile.

"As you wish, love."

The next day Tris and Tobias met the rest of the gang for brunch near the Factions Co. building and had something to eat. Neither of the youngsters felt particularly hungry; the prospect of facing their families and revealing their greatest secret turned their stomachs. None of the well smelling pastries or hot beverages the small family café offered made them spare a second glance.

"You need to eat," Cameron told them, but all four of them groaned and scowled and just tried to hide from the world.

"Come on, guys. You act like you're walking the green mile," Matt said amused.

"It's not funny, Matt," Lynn said while playing with the straw of her iced tea.

"I know it's not. But it's also not that tragic. You guys did an amazing job and dad and I were always around to guide you," Matt told them a little more serious than before.

"Matt's right," Tobias said. "They'll get over it, if they ever get mad. But I doubt it. Your parents love you regardless of you being superstars or maintenance personnel."

"I'm still feeling sick," Tris said and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Me too," Marlene said and leaned against Tobias' other shoulder. He chuckled.

"Well, look at it that way. If your folks get pissed you are still rich enough on your own to not have to rely on their money," Matt said with a grin. They knew it was intended to make them relax, but everyone knew that the four didn't really care for the money or the fame. They started the band because they love each other and because they wanted to prove to their parents that they were capable of being successful on their own, which they were. But that didn't mean they didn't care for their parents' opinions or feelings. They hoped, though, that their parents would understand and forgive their silence.

After they finished they went to check out the stage in the conference room where they would perform for their families. Tobias led them in without being noticed and they hid behind closed doors. Earlier that week Tobias together with Matt organized all that was necessary to build the wall that would obscure the band from their viewers while getting rid of make-up and costumes. Cameron put together a slideshow in four different frames depicting each member as they discussed.

The band performed a sound check first before they practiced their revelation moment. It took them some time to figure out the best way to do it, especially since they had to estimate how long it would take them to get rid of their make-up and wigs.

It was nearly three p.m. when Cameron told them they needed to get back to get ready. Their families would arrive at the Factions Co. building at around five p.m. getting ready for the little concert Divergent prepared for them. Uriah, Lynn and Marlene went with Matt, while Cameron stayed behind taking care of the last minute arrangements and waiting for his brother-in-law to arrive. Tobias drove Tris back to his apartment so that she could get ready there. They all had their costumes ready; they just needed to put them on, apply their make-up and put on their wigs. Each of them had a small duffle with their regular clothes packed for later that evening.

"Nervous?" Tobias asked her as he watched her walk into his bathroom.

"A little," she answered and beckoned him to follow her. He smirked. He knew what she was up to, but couldn't find a logical reason to deny her what she wanted. After all, he craved it too.

They spent almost an hour in the shower, occasionally even cleaning each other up, when they finally emerged and got ready. Tobias watched her apply make-up and wig and finally put on her on-stage clothes. They met with Matt and the others in the Factions Co. underground garage and Tobias marveled once again how different the four youngsters looked when they turned into Divergent. They took the service elevator up to the floor with the conference room and entered the large room where they could already see their families. They already made Cameron explain to them that the band would first perform and then engage in small talk with them, which both Andrew and Marcus found reasonable enough, but insisted the band should stay for dinner.

As the four friends got on stage and got ready for their performance they occasionally glanced toward the large table where their families waited for them to start. The babies were all at home with babysitters so that the young parents could enjoy a night out.

Uriah sat down in front of his drum set, Marlene got the keyboard, Lynn had the guitar while Tris took the microphone. As everyone sat down, including Cameron, Matt and Tobias the band started playing. They started with a couple of songs from their early days, continued with the theme song to the teen movie they wrote and performed, sang a couple of ballads of their second studio album and then a very rhythmic song came on. As the chorus began Tris' microphone turned off automatically, but she kept lip syncing while the mobile wall started to obscure them. The moment it was up the band got off stage to remove all their make-up and wigs, all the while their audience watched pictures from previous concerts or photo shoots. As the song neared its ending the band resumed their places and waited for it to end and the wall to descent to reveal the true identity of Divergent. The moment the music stopped they could hear the gasps of the people gathered there. Slowly, with a little squeaking sound, the wall lowered itself revealing Tris, Marlene, Lynn and Uriah. They looked toward the large table and saw the flabbergasted looks on their parents' faces, the stunned expression their siblings shared, the proud smile Cameron wore, the satisfied grin on Matt's face and the suppressed chuckle Tobias tried very hard to hold back.

Tris and her friends remained on stage, all of them seemingly rooted to the place. They tried very hard to breathe without vomiting. They knew it would have been a bad idea to eat anything that day. They were all too nervous to keep anything down. The momentary feeling of bliss Tris felt not two hours prior to the mini concert was gone and she craved nothing more than crawl into Tobias' arms and forget about the world.

But as the silence stretched the four friends became more and more anxious. They didn't know what to think of it. Their parents kept staring at them, unable to utter even the slightest sound, until Zeke stood up and applauded loudly, cheering them on, whistling and stomping. Soon the other siblings stood up and joined him. Tobias and Matt got up too and Tris dared to smile a little. She hopped off the stage and slowly walked toward her parents. She stopped right in front of them and soon everyone calmed down and silence filled the room anew.

"Before any of you says anything, let me, us," Tris said and looked back to her friends who followed her, "explain what all this means." She watched her father mostly and when he nodded slightly she took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest, she felt like she couldn't breathe; her palms were sweaty and she felt chills all over her body. She could only compare this feeling to the ones she usually got in school during oral reports. Despite knowing what she wanted and needed to say she felt like the words eluded her. Sensing her nervousness Lynn started speaking.

"We wanted to prove that we are awesome on our own," she said. Tris turned her head slightly and looked at her surprised. Lynn nodded and grinned a little before her gaze traveled to Joe, her father.

"We admire you very much," Marlene said more to her father than anyone else. She, like Tris, admired the hard work and dedication of her father. Marcus smiled at his daughter. He was still shocked by what he just learned, but he knew about the band and how successful they were throughout the country. The fact that his daughter was part of it filled him with pride, because it showed how hard working and disciplined his little girl was to accomplish something so great at such a young age.

"We wanted to be successful on our own and make you proud," Uriah continued looking at his parents.

"Dad, you and Marcus were at least my and Mar's role models. We admired you all our lives and we always wanted to be like you. Not businessmen," she said with a chuckle and both Marcus and Andrew laughed lightly. "But these amazing people who worked hard and built their own business from scratch, all the while remaining the same humble, honest and kind people you always were. I know that music isn't exactly what either of you had in mind for any of us," Tris said gesturing around.

"But we took your example. We fulfilled our own dream and worked hard to make you all proud of us," Marlene continued. Evelyn and Natalie had tears in their eyes. Hana sniffed a little and her husband, Michael, put his arm around her, holding her close. They both smiled warmly at their son and his friends.

"I know we lied," Tris said.

"But we didn't want to say anything until we made it in the business," Lynn offers the follow-up explanation.

"It's okay if you guys are angry or disappointed," Uriah said and looked around apprehensive, watching everyone gathered there.

"But we would do it again," Lynn said confidently and watched her father who smiled warmly at her.

"We all love music and we are really good at it. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I can't imagine my life without it," Tris confessed. Andrew stood up and took two huge steps toward his daughter. Standing right in front of her he looked her in the eyes and a wide grin spread on his face.

"I can't say I'm particularly happy that you lied, again," Andrew said and Tris looked away sheepishly. "But what you kids did is amazing. I think I speak for every parent in this room," Andrew said and looked over his shoulder to the others. "We would have liked it if you kids would have told us."

"If we would have, you would have said no," Lynn said and Andrew looked at her surprised.

"You don't know that," Natalie responded and stood up, joining her husband.

"Actually, we do," Marlene replied. "Think about it. Would you have ever allowed us to go to concerts, especially out of town?" she asked them.

"Only if one of us would have come with you," Marcus answered.

"And who would have done that?" Uriah inquired.

"There were plenty of adults," Evelyn said.

"You would have come with us to a concert? In a bar? Or low budget festival?" Tris asked incredulous. The parents all shared looks. "Listen, guys. We know we betrayed your trust by doing what we did. But we were always supervised. Uncle Cameron and Matt never allowed us to party; they always were there to make sure we were safe. But they also knew how important this was for us. We can't change the past," Tris told them.

"But we hope you can accept us the way we are," Marlene said with a small smile on her face.

"Of course we accept you," Evelyn said. "We love you all very much," she added and looked at all four of them. "Just because we wish you would be a little more like your older siblings doesn't mean we don't love you or accept you. After Tris and Tobias told us they are a couple I kept thinking of how little we really know about you kids. Natalie, Hana and I often discussed it," she said and the other women nodded.

"We just want what is best for you. But at the same time we don't want you to feel less appreciated," Hana added.

"We know, Ma," Uriah said. "We just had to do this on our own, not only to prove to you that we can, but to ourselves."

"And you did a great job, son," Michael said and went to embrace his son. "I'm really proud of you," he told him in a whisper.

The four band members sat down with their families and they shared a few stories with them, telling them how they practiced after school at Cameron's, about their record deals, about the work with the movie studio. They asked all of their family members to keep the secret about Divergent, because they wanted to live normal lives too.

It took everyone a while to wrap their heads around the revelation of that afternoon, but parents and siblings alike accepted and supported their younger family members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thoughts?


	17. Three is one too many

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A little drama never hurts... too much :)

After the anniversary weekend Tris and her friends returned to New York. They had to prepare for several weeks of touring around the country before they would return to New York and start a new school year.

Tris hoped to see Eric before they started their journey, but the faculty assistant told her he was gone on vacation. She tried to call him a few times, but when he didn't reply to any of her messages she thought maybe he wanted to be alone. She wondered if the older man was still in love with her, but for the weeks prior to his departure he didn't mention anything. He respected her and her relationship with Tobias and he should have known her well enough to know that she would never cheat on her boyfriend. But there was a nagging feeling inside her that told her that something was wrong with him. She cared for him, deeply even, but it wasn't love, at least not a love like she shared with Tobias. No, it was more of a brotherly love she felt toward him. It hurt her that he wouldn't answer her and she wondered if perhaps he got sick and tired to wait for her. Perhaps he found a woman he could be happy with. She knew she should have felt happy for him, but somehow the prospect of him with another woman just unsettled her. She wondered if maybe she had developed romantic feelings for her teacher.

Not able to figure things out on her own she called the only person she knew she could talk too freely and without secrets. She dialed her number and her assistant scheduled an appointment for that evening. Tris hoped it would help her understand her emotions better and find a way to deal with them.

She didn't tell any of her friends about her appointment with Johanna. She needed to keep this to herself, for several reasons. She hated keeping secrets from them, but things had changed. Her relationship with Tobias changed them. If he would have been some random guy she picked up she wouldn't feel as guilty as she did. But as it turned out the man was the older brother of her best friend and even Lynn and Uriah considered him like a surrogate big brother. Tris knew that by revealing her confused thoughts and entangled feelings she would open a realm of mistrust between her and her friends, not to mention her and Tobias. She didn't even know what all that meant.

The only way to figure out her feelings was to talk to the one person who kept her from going mad after Drew.

Tris waited patiently in the waiting room of Dr. Johanna Reyes. She could already smell the familiar scent and instantly felt safe and secure. The moment Johanna's door opened and a middle aged woman exited Tris stood up, feeling very anxious to talk to the professional. Johanna smiled when she saw her young patient and after dismissing her previous patient she invited the young woman inside her office. They sat down like they usually did: Johanna on her comfortable armchair with a notepad in her lap and a mug of Oolong tea on the mahogany coffee table, while Tris sat on the couch facing her. Suddenly, Tris felt ridiculous. She felt like she was a stupid little girl who couldn't figure out on her own how she felt.

"It's good to see you," Johanna told her as she watched the young woman struggle to say something. Johanna knew how difficult it was for Tris to open up, but once she would she would tell her therapist all that bothered her.

"Yeah, good to see you too." Tris wondered how to approach the subject and more importantly to figure out what exactly it was she wanted from Johanna.

"How can I help you today?" she asked and Tris looked at her conflicted. She wondered if her therapist could help her at all.

"I'm confused," Tris finally said. That was certainly not a helpful first sentence, but it surely wasn't an uncommon one either. Most of her patients came to her because they were confused about their feelings. It was Johanna's job to figure out the problem and guide them as best she could in order for them to figure those feelings out. Johanna nodded toward Tris signaling her to continue. "Eric, my friend," she said and Johanna nodded again, "he left and doesn't answer my messages. They told me he went on vacation, but I have this feeling that there's more to it."

"What do you mean?" Johanna inquired as she sipped from her tea.

"Well, he always answered my messages, even if it wasn't right away, but eventually. I don't know what to think of it. I even thought maybe he found someone and just ran off with her," Tris said leaning back.

"Would that be a problem if he did?" Johanna asked smiling.

"Uh, I don't know." Johanna watched her young patient carefully. Over the months Tris was in therapy Eric came up every once in a while. She knew that the younger woman felt a connection to her teacher and while not romantically it was still strong.

"What was the first thing that crossed your mind when you learned of his absence?" Johanna asked her as she took another sip.

"What I said, that he maybe found a girl and ran off with her," Tris answered with a little frown.

"And that would be upsetting for you?"

"I don't know," Tris said and avoided looking at Johanna.

"Tris, you know that I won't judge you and everything we talk about will remain between the two of us. Tell me. What is really bothering you," Johanna said calmly. Tris took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn't know how she felt. How could have she described in words what she felt or thought when she didn't even know?

"I don't think I have romantic feelings for Eric, but when I thought of him with another woman I felt, I don't know, jealous," she said, but she could hear the uncertainty in her voice. Johanna smiled.

"Tris, let's try something," she said and Tris nodded. "Close your eyes and don't think of anything or anyone," Johanna instructed. Tris closed her eyes and tried hard not to think of anything. But the more she tried to keep her head clear of any thoughts the more one face popped up and smiled at her. She wanted to say "Go away. I need to keep my head clear" but the face of the man smiled at her and she involuntarily smiled too. Each time she tried to think of anything or anyone else his face appeared again and again.

"Without opening your eyes, think of a place you want to go," Johanna said and Tris immediately thought of Hawaii. Once again, the smiling face appeared and Tris wanted to cast him away. The exercise was not about him. Tris saw herself lying on a lounge chair next to the man while both were sipping Mai Tais. They laughed and Tris felt happy. She watched as the man got up and held his hand out for her to take. He swept her off of her feet and carried her to the water. He slowly entered it with her still in his arms and gently lowered her so that only her feet would reach the cool surface of the ocean. Tris smiled again. "Now open your eyes," Johanna instructed, but Tris found herself unwilling to do so. She wanted to stay in that idyllic landscape just another minute with this wonderful man by her side. "Tris, open your eyes," Johanna repeated softly. Reluctantly Tris opened her eyes and looked at the older woman watching her, a fond smile on her face and a caring look in her eyes. "Where did you go?"

"Hawaii," Tris answered immediately.

"Where you alone?" Johanna inquired.

"No."

"Who was with you?"

"Tobias," Tris answered and the smile reappeared on her lips. Johanna reciprocated it and instructed her to close her eyes one more time.

"Imagine you are back in Hawaii, but instead of Tobias Eric is with you," Johanna says and Tris mentally replaced her boyfriend with her teacher. But the more she tried to imagine Eric sitting next to her, sipping his drink, smiling at her, carrying her into the ocean, the unhappier she got. She didn't want Eric there, but Tobias. Eric's image faded and was replaced by Tobias' once again. Tris opened her eyes realizing that she couldn't continue Johanna's little experiment.

"I couldn't do it. I mean, I tried to imagine Eric instead of Tobias but it made me unhappy and Tobias popped back up," she sincerely told her therapist.

"What do you think this means?" Johanna asked her leaning back in her armchair. Tris thought of the question. What did it mean? It meant that she wanted Tobias, not Eric. She tried the exercise again and again in her mind, while Johanna kept waiting. Each scenario Tris came up with ended the same way. It didn't matter how often she imagined Eric by her side, it was always Tobias who she truly wanted and her mind practically screamed that at her. Then why was she so upset with Eric's absence?

"I want Tobias, that's the one thing I'm certain of. But I don't understand why I got so upset because of Eric not answering my messages," she said and sighed in frustration. Johanna and Tris spent many hours talking about many things. The therapist knew why, but Tris needed to find the answer on her own.

"Tell me, what is the strongest memory you have of Eric?" Johanna inquired.

"I called him right after I found the videos on Drew's laptop," Tris immediately answered.

"Why?" Tris looked at the older woman curiously. They had spoken plenty of times of the reason why she called Eric instead of anyone else that night. She answered nevertheless.

"I wasn't ready to talk to anyone else. I just felt I could trust him," Tris said and suddenly she realized something.

After the session was concluded Tris said goodbye and left the therapists office. She decided to go for a walk to clear her head. How could she have been so blind? The answer was right in front of her, but as usual she allowed herself to be overwhelmed by her emotions and couldn't think straight again. She tried to reach Eric one more time and left a message for him to call when he was ready to talk to her.

She decided not to tell her friends about the session with Johanna or at least not the content of it, since she already knew what their minds would come up with. However, she would talk to Tobias. Her boyfriend would meet them in Houston for their concert in four days time and after the show they wanted to spend some time together.

That night Tris was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling. She remembered each conversation she and Eric shared and decided it would be best to distance herself from him. She wasn't afraid she might fall for the man or cheat on Tobias or anything like that. She was certain, despite all his efforts to deny it, Eric still cared for her more than he should. He never pressured her or flirted with her, at least not that she could think of. But the fact that he still had romantic feelings for her even after all that time bothered her. He deserved to be happy and she wasn't the one for him. She loved Tobias more than she ever thought she could love anyone and she knew that no matter what their future would bring them she would certainly want to be with him for as long as possible. Eric, well Eric was for Tris just a very dear friend. She couldn't see him as more even if it wasn't for her romantic relationship with Tobias. She wanted what was best for her friend, but maybe the best thing for him was to move on. Perhaps he saw that too and decided to leave the city for a while and if he really got lucky he would find someone worthy of his affection. Tris truly wished that for him.

Four days later, after Divergent had their concert in Houston, Tobias invited his girlfriend to a romantic dinner in their hotel suite. The room was registered under his name so the paparazzi wouldn't find them. Marlene, Uriah and Lynn shared an apartment on the same floor, but on the opposite end. Cameron and Matt occupied each a room a floor below. But while Tobias and Tris celebrated yet another successful evening for the band all on their own, the others went out to a club to just have fun.

Tris battled herself the entire time, not knowing how and when to tell Tobias about what had been bothering her the week before. Tobias certainly noticed that she had something on her mind and while they both promised each other to always tell the truth and never keep secrets he knew that it wouldn't be wise to push her. She would eventually tell him what she had on her mind when she felt ready for it. But as their evening progressed he felt a little insecure and ignored his gut feeling to just remain quiet.

"What is it, Tris?" he asked her. She looked up at him and knew that he wouldn't let go. She knew she acted suspiciously the entire time and he would eventually ask about it. She wasn't so sure anymore about her decision to tell him, but they swore to be honest with each other.

"Let's sit down on the couch," she said and led them both toward the black leather piece of furniture where they both sat down facing each other. "It's about Eric," she said and he frowned.

"What about him?" he asked a lot colder than before.

"He left about two weeks ago without telling anyone where he went. I tried to call him, but he didn't answer. I texted him, but he never replied. Listen, I know you don't like him and that you are jealous," she said and he opened his mouth to object. "Don't deny it," she warned and he nodded. "I care for Eric, a lot. But not the way I care about you. I love you with all my heart. There is no other man for me than you, Tobias," she told him earnestly, hoping he would believe her. He smiled weakly, knowing that there was more to the story. "When Eric didn't answer I got upset. For a moment I thought he might have met someone and left with her. I got jealous, but not like that," she quickly added when she saw his sour expression. "Eric was the first person I called after Drew," she said and Tobias nodded, although he didn't understand where she was going. He started doubting that she really loved him the way she said she did. Why would she even bring Eric up? Did she have feelings for him the way he did for her? Would she break up their relationship to be with the other man?

"Tris, are you doubting us?" he asked directly. Tris gasped at the question and shook her head violently.

"No," she answered quickly. "It's not like that at all."

"Then explain it to me, because I don't get it," he said frustrated and stood up. He started pacing, trying to calm down, but the more she kept silent the angrier and afraid he got. Maybe she really wanted to break things up with him to be with Eric. He stopped abruptly and stared at her, it was more of a glare actually that made her shrink back a little. "If you want to break up just do it. Don't look for excuses," he almost yelled. Tris looked at him dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what she heard. How could he think she wanted to break up with him when she just told him she loved him?

"No, you jealous idiot. I don't want to break up with you," she stood up and yelled at him.

"Then what's the deal with this story about Eric and you being jealous?" he yelled back.

"I got jealous because I'm a self-centered, stupid idiot. The man was or still is in love with me and all I could think of was to get over what Drew did. I didn't care that by keeping Eric nearby he would get his hopes up and eventually I would hurt him; like I did when I told him about you. I got jealous because I realized that now he was gone and my loyal friend who always supported me would support some other girl. I was selfish and I was jealous of someone who probably doesn't even exist and I was jealous for the wrong reasons," she yelled and plopped back down on the couch. She took a deep breath before she looked up at him again. He stared at her both shocked and angry and she couldn't blame him. "I don't even know if that made sense. What I'm trying to say is, I only thought of myself and disregarded Eric's feelings in all this. Yes, I told him I wasn't interested, but he clearly had feelings for me. But instead of distancing myself from him and allowing him to find someone who would truly love him I kept him around because I felt safe with him," she said, her voice softer and lower than before. Tobias kept staring at her trying to process what she told him. She was right; it didn't make a lot of sense what she said. He too knew that the man was in love with his girlfriend, but he never did anything about it, even before Tobias showed any interest in the girl or at least before he confessed his own feelings toward her. But something she said resonated in his mind. She felt safe with Eric. Did that mean she didn't with him?

"Don't you feel safe with me?" he asked, almost in a whisper. Tris looked at him. She searched his face for his true feelings. She could see the hurt in his eyes and the anger in his jaw. He always clenched it when he was angry and tried to suppress it. She stood up once again and took a step forward.

"I feel more than safe with you. I feel loved, cherished, even worshiped," she said, her voice gentle and a smile found its way on her face.

"Then I don't understand."

"Eric was the first person I told about Drew. He was there for me when I really needed a friend and somehow I kept the relationship locked in that moment. I don't really know why I did it, but I realize it was unfair of me, especially toward Eric. He deserved better. He helped me so much and if you want to hear it or not he played a major role in me testifying against Drew and seeking help from a therapist. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him. I owe him a lot and I repaid him poorly and I'm ashamed because of it."

Tobias wrapped his arms around her, not knowing what to say. On one hand he tried to understand that weird relationship between the woman he loved and that other man, but on the other he felt angry that he wasn't there when she needed him. But that was in the past and unfortunately he couldn't change that. They remained like that for a while, none of them saying anything until Tris spoke up again.

"When he comes back I will have to talk to him and tell him that we shouldn't see each other as often as we do now. I don't want to lose him as my friend, but I sure don't want him to think that there could be anything other than friendship between us. Even if it weren't for you I can't see Eric as anything other than a very dear friend. But I, on the other hand, would be a lousy friend if I would continue things the way they are now. He deserves better."

Once again Tobias didn't know what to say. It was confusing and aggravating all at once and he didn't know what to do. He had planned a romantic evening with his girlfriend and all went to shit.

"Fuck," he cursed.

"Tobias, I swear, I love you and I don't want to be with anyone else but you," she said. She held her tears back until then, but then his question popped back into her head. He believed she wanted to break up with him. Did he really think that? Did he really not trust her enough that he jumped to that conclusion? She pushed herself away from him. She wanted to ask him that while looking him in the eyes. She needed to know if he really thought she would break up with him. "Did you really think I would break up with you?" she asked and watched his face carefully. Tobias stared at her. He felt ashamed that he doubted her, but in that particular moment when she talked about Eric and being jealous he lost it.

"I got jealous when you talked about him," he said. She got angry. So he really believed that.

"That's because you jumped to conclusions," she said angrily.

"What was I suppose to think when you talked of Eric and jealousy?" he asked her just as angry.

"You should have let me finish before making up stuff in your dumb head," she yelled at him.

"You know that I don't like the guy. He is in love with you and you spend so much time with him," Tobias yelled back.

"In school, you prick," she yelled.

"What am I supposed to think when my girlfriend brings up the guy that is in love with her during our date night and randomly tells me she got jealous of an unknown woman that guy might or might not date?" he yelled a little louder.

"You're supposed to trust me," she countered.

"I do trust you."

"Really?"

"Yes. But the sole thought of you with someone else drives me insane. I love you more than anything in the world and I don't want to lose you," he yelled while running both hands through his hair.

"I love you more than anything in the world too," she yelled and took a few steps toward him, closing the gap they've created.

"Tris, the idea of not being with you is unbearable," he said using a softer tone.

"I know the feeling," she said reaching out and caressing his cheek. He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes.

"You have no idea how much I love you and when I thought you would break up with me I felt myself go insane," he confessed and grabbed the hand that was cupping his cheek. He opened his eyes and stared at her.

"You are insane. I love you and no one else, you stupid moron. I don't think I'll ever love anyone other than you," she said with a smile. He smiled too and then kissed her softly, before pulling her in his arms. "You fucking ruined me for other men," she joked, but she told the truth. She couldn't see herself with anyone other than him. She had other relationships before him, but they weren't like the one she shared with Tobias. They both had a long way to walk to get where they were.

"Can you forgive me?" he asked into her hair.

"Yeah. Can you forgive me?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. The jealousy monster was still deeply embedded in his mind, but he tried to cast it away by repeating over and over again that he trusted her. They still had to talk about the subject, but he was certain that the talk needed to be postponed for another day, since both of them were vulnerable and tired. Tris sensed his struggle and understood his point of view. She would have probably reacted the same way if it were the other way around. Or perhaps even worse. She decided to lighten the mood.

"Cool. Let's have some awesome make-up sex then," she said and he laughed whole heartily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review.


	18. The jealousy variable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: To those who believe that Tris doesn't love Tobias enough. She needs to grow up. And she needs to learn. She needs to get hurt. and she needs to see what her actions cause. I remember one of the first lessons my mother tried to teach me (and failed): don't touch the stove, it'll burn you. I didn't listen. I got an owie and I learned all on my own. I needed to screw up to learn. This happened over and over again during my life and I think this is how it's supposed to be. Our parents can teach us, can tell us, can warn us, can even yell at us and we will still fuck up and do it anyway. But I think this chapter will change your minds, I hope.

When classes started again Eric still hadn't returned. Tris worried about him, but there was nothing she could have done since he still hadn't returned any of her calls or text messages. She even thought that perhaps he decided to distance himself from her and move on, the way she wanted him to do. But somehow it didn't seem right either. She decided it wouldn't help anyone to dwell too much on Eric's lengthy absence. He would come back and they would talk things through.

Tris had a long talk with Tobias as well. She wasn't entirely sure if he really understood her feelings, especially since she had some difficulties understanding them herself, but it seemed her boyfriend decided to trust her nevertheless. She would never cheat on him, but she realized that she not only chose the wrong time, but also the wrong way to describe her feelings toward the other man. She couldn't blame Tobias for freaking out the way he did and she truly deserved a hard kick in her ass for being such a douche toward him.

However, she promised herself to make it all up during their two week trip to Hawaii in late November. Unfortunately, they couldn't plan anything sooner because their schedules just wouldn't permit it and so they decided to not only have a nice vacation just the two of them but also celebrate his birthday.

Tobias' birthday was November 2nd. He wanted to go to New York to spend it with Tris, but something came up at work and since Tris didn't seem to feel well she couldn't travel to Chicago. They chatted on their tablets that night and promised to celebrate properly during their vacation.

The weekend before their trip to Hawaii Tris and Marlene traveled to Chicago. Evelyn and Natalie organized a fundraiser and asked their daughters to attend it. They both tried to come up with excuses not to, but in the end they realized that their mothers really wanted them there. Reluctantly, the two young women boarded the plane that would take them home.

Tobias picked the girls up and drove Marlene first to his parents' house and then Tris to hers. She would spend the night in his apartment, but Natalie wanted to dress her up herself. They kissed goodbye and both looked forward to seeing each other later that evening.

"Are you excited about your trip?" Natalie asked her daughter.

"Not really. Why would I be?" Tris asked looking at her mother in the vanity mirror as the older woman did her hair. Natalie frowned a little.

"Do you and Tobias have problems?" she asked.

"No," Tris immediately answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you don't seem enthusiastic about your trip and I thought maybe you two are fighting," Natalie explained.

"Mom, just because I don't jump on my bed and squeal in excitement doesn't mean I'm not happy he and I will spend some time together," Tris said amused. It always confused her why her mother thought something was wrong just because Tris didn't react the way other girls did. She should have known by now that her youngest child is different than the rest of them. Tris was really excited about the prospect of spending two weeks with just Tobias on a tropical island. She just didn't understand why she should have made a fuss about it. It was just vacation.

"I just thought that maybe you two have problems and that's why you don't speak of it," Natalie said and Tris could see concern all over her mother's face.

"Mom, I promise, Tobias and I are fine. Everything is great between us. Yeah, we have our ups and downs, but every couple has them," Tris explained, trying to put her mother's mind at ease.

"I just thought you didn't get along because of the age gap."

"No. Sure he is six years older than I am, but we talk about everything. We have no secrets and I don't really see the age difference as a problem. And neither should you," she told her mother. Natalie nodded. She was more than happy about their relationship. She just wished that her daughter would open up to her more.

"That's good. Key to a long lasting relationship is communication," Natalie said smiling, while Tris nodded. She understood quickly that her mom tried to get somewhere.

"Just ask whatever you want to know and I promise I will answer," she told her honestly. Natalie looked her in the eyes and smiled a little.

"I know you don't like to talk about it and I don't want you to feel pressured," Natalie started saying and Tris knew what her mother's question would be.

"We see each other together for a long time, maybe even get married," Tris said and Natalie smiled hopeful. Tris sighed before she continued. "We haven't talked about it, well not really. It came up once or twice, but we decided to take the step if and when we're both ready. And I'm not, mom. I mean, I love him and I know he would support me no matter what. He wouldn't ask me to give up on music just as I wouldn't ask him to quit his job. But marriage isn't really in my top ten things to do for the next couple of years," she said but lately the idea popped up in her head more often than she liked to admit.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to do something just because I or Evelyn or anyone thinks you two should or shouldn't do. We love you both very much and want only what is best for you," Natalie told her as she hugged her from behind.

"I know, mom and I promise you'll be the first to know if we eloped in Vegas," she teased her mom. Natalie scowled for a moment before she laughed. She couldn't be angry with Tris. She understood her. She knew almost right away that she loved Andrew and that she couldn't imagine a life without him, but the prospect of marriage frightened her. Andrew was very patient with her and when he finally popped the question Natalie was ready and eager to take that next step. She decided to tell the story to her youngest daughter, hoping it would help them bond and that Tris would be more comfortable to talk to her mother in the future about her fears and hopes.

It wasn't until the door bell rang that the two women realized they had spent more than an hour talking about Natalie's fear of getting married and Tris confessing certain aspects of her life with Tobias. She even told her mother about Eric, hoping the older woman would have an advice for her. She left out the entire incident with Drew, unable to go there. She didn't even know if she would ever tell her parents about what had happened to her.

Tobias waited patiently at the Prior's front door for someone to answer. When he had to ring three times he started getting worried that something might have happened, but then his beautiful girlfriend opened the door and smiled up at him.

"You look stunning," he complimented her. Tris blushed lightly and smiled warmly at the man in front of her. He looked dashing in his black tuxedo and white shirt, the smile he wore only enhanced his handsomeness.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied with a grin.

Tobias escorted the two Prior women and his mother and sister to the fundraiser ball held in one of the larger conference rooms at Factions Co. Marcus and Andrew were already there taking care of everything while they allowed their wives to get ready together with their daughters. They sat down at one of the round tables while a band played some soft jazz in the background.

Marlene and Tris purposefully sat next to each other to be able to talk. They weren't really interested in anything that transpired that evening, just enjoying the time they spent with their families. After several dances Tris sat down, unable to even walk anymore in the high heels her mother forced her into. She was used to heels, sure, but the shoes were uncomfortable. Apparently beauty trumped comfort in the world of high society fundraise events. Just as Tris wanted to bend forward to take them off she got a glimpse of something that made her blood boil. A tall woman, with a tight dress that showed all her feminine curves and entirely too much cleavage walked toward her boyfriend who was talking to one of his business associates. She talked to him and he looked at her surprised. It seemed to Tris that he knew the woman and wondered where from. Did they date? Was she a former girlfriend? Or a one-night stand? Or a hooker? Or some slut who tried to put her claws on her man? Who the hell was the bitch? The more time passed the more scenarios Tris' jealous mind came up with. She felt her blood rushing through her body, her heart pounding so loud that her ears started ringing. She ignored everything around her and just glared at them. Tobias didn't seem comfortable, Tris could tell by the rigid posture he adopted ever since the woman started talking to him. The mystery woman smiled and touched his bicep and Tris saw red. She stood up wanting to throw something at them, but before she could even think of the proper tool (or weapon) to throw at the woman who just got too cozy with her boyfriend, the slut (in Tris' opinion) wrapped her arms around Tobias' neck and kissed him on the lips. Tobias stood there still for a moment, surprised by what had happened, but then he pushed her away. The woman pouted and refused to let go of him. That's when Tris lost it completely. All sanity vanished in the blink of an eye and she started running toward them and as she reached them she launched herself at the other woman and tackled her down, falling over her. She started slapping her as hard as she could and yelled at her. The music stopped playing and the entire room fell silent.

"Get your filthy whorish claws off my boyfriend, bitch," Tris yelled and felt a rage inside her she never felt before. She was angry before but what she felt in that moment boarded on homicidal wrath.

"Help," the mystery woman screamed as Tris kept slapping, punching and scratching her. She didn't even care what she did to the woman beneath her. She just wanted revenge and show the slut to whom Tobias really belonged to.

Tris felt strong arms lifting her up and she kept struggling to get free. She kept kicking and punching the air as she was lifted off of her rival and carried out. She didn't even know who the person was who carried her. The only thing she wanted was to get back into that room and finish off that man-stealing whore.

Once in the elevator the person let go of Tris and she turned around to see who had the audacity to pick her up as if she were a child. Tobias looked at her angry, shocked, speechless; he didn't know what to say. Everything happened so quickly that his mind couldn't process anything. The only thing he knew was that he had to get Tris out of there before she did something she would regret later. They stared at each other in silence, Tris kept glaring and Tobias held her gaze. The moment the elevator stopped he grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him. She didn't protest because she was curious to find out who the slut was that dared kissing her man.

Tobias entered an office and closed and locked the door behind them. He turned on the light on the desk and Tris realized they were in his office. She looked at him and waited for a few moments before she couldn't keep her curiosity and anger at bay anymore.

"Who's the slut?" she asked angry and loud. Tobias looked at her stunned. He never saw her act like that. Then again, they never were in a situation where she got jealous. It was always him. The thought of her being jealous made him smile which infuriated her even more. "Wipe that smirk off of your face," she yelled.

"You're jealous," he stated. Tris glared at him. So what if she was? The more important issue was who the slut was.

"Who's the slut?" she repeated her earlier question.

"Lauren Hamilton. She and I were in the same year in college. We dated a few weeks and then I dumped her," Tobias told her still smirking.

"What the fuck happened? Why did that skank shove her tongue down your throat?" Tris asked angrier. She couldn't understand why he kept smiling.

"I don't know why she kissed me. She said she missed me and whatnot and that we should give it another try. I told her I'm in a relationship and that's when she kissed me. And she didn't shove her tongue down my throat. I didn't let her," Tobias filled in the blank.

"I'm gonna kill that bitch," Tris shouted and walked to the door, but before she could reach the handle Tobias grabbed her by the middle and pulled her against his chest, keeping her rooted. "Let me go," Tris said struggling to no avail.

"Babe, calm down. I'm not interested in Lauren. I love you," he said serious, but found it very hard to keep his smile away. He knew the situation was serious and that he too should have been upset with his former romantic interest. But if he was honest, at least with himself, he had to thank the other woman. Things were good between Tris and him, but ever since she brought up Eric and that she felt jealous about the fact that he left, Tobias couldn't help but wonder if maybe his girlfriend was confused and wanted the other man instead of him. They had long talks and he trusted that she wouldn't cheat, but there was always a little voice inside his head that kept saying that she cared for the other man more than for him. Tris never acted like a jealous girlfriend when it came to Eric and that gave Tobias confidence that she truly just saw her teacher like a very dear friend. But the fact that she literally went berserk when she saw Lauren kiss Tobias made him realize that the woman he loved, loved him just as much. Tris could be impulsive, but she always tried to maintain a certain degree of manners when in public. That night however she lost it completely and Tobias was sure, if he hadn't pulled her up and off of Lauren Tris would have probably killed the older woman for kissing him.

Tris kept thrashing and tried very hard to escape his vice like grip. She pushed herself away from him trying very hard to reach the door, but Tobias kept her put.

"Let me go," she shouted.

"Only if you calm down. Tris, I don't care about Lauren. I love you and you alone. I would never leave you, especially not for her. She has nothing on you, babe," Tobias said in a calm voice trying to make her see reason, but he knew how stubborn she could be. He turned her around and crashed his lips over hers. She kept thrashing and pushing herself away from him, but his arms locked her in and she couldn't escape. Eventually, she gave in and kissed him back just as fiercely as he kissed her. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, claiming him once again as hers. Tobias picked her up off the ground and Tris wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing her skirt up and revealing her milky thighs.

Tobias turned them around and with one arm he held her up and with the other threw whatever wasn't necessary off his desk and laid her down. He remained settled between her spread legs and kissed her savagely and with abandon. They moaned and groaned and held each other close for dear life. Tobias covered her petite body with his as he caressed her as best he could in the position they found themselves in, but a powerful desire overcame them both and soon their party garments were lying discarded on the floor while Tobias kept pleasuring her on his desk. Tris arched her back and reached to grab a fistful of his hair, keeping his mouth close to her moist womanhood as he expertly lapped at her juices. She came hard on his face and he smirked smugly as he licked his lips and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Tris took control over the situation, wanting to prove that he belonged to her and her alone. She hopped of the desk and pushed him toward his black faux leather couch making him plop down. The couch felt cold and sticky against his heated, sweaty skin, but he was too absorbed in what his girlfriend was doing with her tongue and mouth to even pay the uncomfortable piece of furniture a second thought. Tris licked and sucked him hard and he almost lost control of himself when she abruptly stopped and mounted him. She was too excited to wait any longer and with a never experienced possessiveness she impaled herself completely letting out a strangled moan. They remained still for a moment as both tried to get used to the sensation of being united in such an intimate way, before Tobias latched onto her neck and sucked the heated flesh hard and grabbed her hips helping her ride him in the most primal way conceivable. The sound of flesh against flesh was tangled with grunts and pleas and climaxed in the satisfied melody of the two lovers union.

They laid down on the couch, covered in layers of salty sweat and pleasure juices, but neither cared or commented on the situation. Tris was physically spent, but satisfied. Her emotional status however was a different story. Tobias held her close as they both tried to catch their breaths. The couch wasn't designed to lie down on her, but it was definitely better than the ground or the uncomfortable sitting position from moments before. He held her close against his chest as they both stared at the wall opposite the couch. He could feel her rapid heartbeat underneath his touch and knew that it wasn't just because of the physical exertion, but the emotional turmoil as well.

"That's how I feel when it comes to Eric," he told her. She remained silent. She knew what he was saying and up until then she thought he exaggerated. She knew he trusted her and she trusted him, but seeing how another woman would go near him with the obvious intention of conquering him made her jealous beyond her control. If that was the same way Tobias felt when it came to Eric and her then she owed the man an apology. However, she just nodded in acknowledgement.

They remained in his office for the remainder of the party, assuming it continued after what transpired between the youngest Prior and the former love interest of Tobias Eaton. At some point Tris fell asleep; Tobias could tell by the steady rise and fall of her chest. But it was cool in his office and he didn't want her to catch a cold. He tried to get up without waking her but just as he sighed in relief because he was able to do so his cell phone rang loudly and startled her. He groaned in frustration and quickly kissed her forehead before picking up his phone of the ground where it landed while they had their wild sexual encounter. Tris sat up on the couch and waited for him to finish talking on the phone. She couldn't really hear who it was, but Tobias told the person on the other side that they were both in his office. The moment he hung up he looked at her and smiled a little.

"That was dad. He wanted to know if you're alright and where we are," he informed her.

"Is it bad?" Tris asked. She didn't really care for that woman. The skank got what she deserved, but she felt bad about her mom and Evelyn and actually everyone else.

"It's fine. Dad managed to calm everyone down. Lauren's father had the nerve to ask that you should publicly apologize for attacking his daughter without any reason," Tobias said a little angry.

"What? I had no reason? I had plenty of reasons."

"Calm down. Dad told them that you did what you did because you had every right. Everyone knows that the two of us are a couple. I never kept it a secret and Lauren was informed. In fact, she flirted with me despite knowing that. I know from Zeke that he ran into her a couple of weeks ago and told her. She only played dumb and continued even after I told her I'm taken. So, she had it coming."

"What did her father say?"

"He was furious and yelled that this is outrageous and whatnot at which my mom told him that if his daughter wouldn't act like a whore among taken men this would have never happened."

"I think I like your mom a bit more now," Tris said with a chuckle.

"Good, 'cause she loves you very much," he told her and bent down to kiss her when he remembered something.

"What?"

"We should get dressed. I told dad where to find us and he said he'll bring your purse down. I don't want him to find us like this," Tobias said and Tris jumped up. Tris still wore her shoes but her dress was lying on the floor near the door. She went over there to get it while Tobias pulled his briefs and dress pants up and quickly slipped into his shirt.

"Where are my panties?" Tris asked when she couldn't find them. She turned around to see a smirking Tobias pull them out of his pants pocket and sniffing them before throwing them at her. She reciprocated his smirk and quickly put them on before someone knocked on his door. She decided to sit down on the couch again, trying to act innocently, although her disheveled appearance and probably the strong sex smell in the room would give away what the two lovers did there.

Thankfully, Marcus was a gentleman and just handed the purse to his son when the latter opened the door without even entering the room, but Tris could hear the chuckle Marcus let out and knew he was on to them.

They decided to wait a while longer before leaving the building. They wanted to avoid seeing anyone they knew. It was embarrassing enough and Tris wanted to postpone facing anyone until the next day or next year. Or maybe even a next life. She didn't regret what she did, but she felt bad she embarrassed her family.

"You feeling better?" Tobias asked her as he sat down next to her on his couch. Tris leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said barely above a whisper.

"Don't be. I told you, Lauren asked for it."

"I didn't mean that. Until tonight I thought you were exaggerating about Eric, but I got so jealous when I saw you with that woman that all logic left my body and got replaced by irrational rage," she said looking up slightly.

"I don't know about irrational. You know I would never cheat on you, but Lauren did hit on me despite knowing that she had no chance. She knew that you were there and flirted shamelessly with me," Tobias said.

"Still. I never felt so jealous in my entire life. And when I saw that skank all over you I just lost it. You're my man and she has no business touching you," Tris said with a pout and Tobias barely kept himself from laughing. He kissed her temple and held her close to his body. Nothing she could have said or done would have reassured him more of her feelings toward him than what she did to Lauren. He belonged to her and she belonged to him and no one would change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review and let me know what you thought of jealous, out of her mind Tris?


	19. Testament of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all for reading this story. I'm always amazed by your support and good wishes. This chapter will contain some drama and i hope you stick around to find out what will happen next.  
> Enjoy this new chapter.

After the incident with Lauren Hamilton Tris felt ashamed and tried to avoid speaking to their families and since Natalie had everyone invited to have lunch at the Prior residence the next day Tris did everything humanly possible to avoid going there. She tried everything with Tobias, from offering mind-blowing sex to withholding it altogether (despite not being able to go through with her threat, which Tobias knew), nothing worked. He was even amused by all the excuses she came up with: indigestion, headache, PMS, she even said she thought aliens abducted her during the night and they should go to the hospital for a thorough check-up before Scully and Mulder would knock on their door. At that Tobias actually laughed out loud and barely managed to stop to catch his breath.

He told her that he would be by her side the whole time, but it wouldn't even matter because everyone was aware of what Lauren tried to do and Tris was right to defend her love and her man. Sure she could have done it more gracefully, but for once she was grateful that they dismissed her crazy behavior due to her youth. She reluctantly agreed to go and was somewhat glad because all the women congratulated her, even Natalie and Evelyn. She even heard Marcus and Andrew talk in the kitchen when she went to deposit the dessert plates. Andrew told his friend that he would never doubt his daughter again when she said she loved Tobias at which Marcus responded that with a fierce daughter-in-law like her he was sure that Tobias would have a lifelong marriage and he was looking forward to many grandchildren. At the mention of marriage and children Tris almost dropped the plates, but thankfully the wall behind her offered enough stability to not collapse because of her weakened knees.

Tris wasn't ready for the big commitment and even though she knew she and Tobias were going to be together forever she just couldn't see herself as a wife and mother. At least not so soon. But it happened often that she would sit in class and zone out her teachers, while scribbling her and Tobias' name next to each other in a heart.

Tobias was lying on the lounge chair on the backyard porch of the small house they rented near the ocean. They could have gone to a five star hotel but opted for privacy and solitude. Besides, they had everything they needed right there. Tris was just coming out to join him when she heard her phone ring. She picked it up of the end table in the living room and held her breath when she saw the caller ID. Eric. She debated for a moment if she should pick up or not. On one hand she missed her friend and wanted to know that he was okay, on the other however she was pissed that he had been gone for so long without even a note. And then there was Tobias. Things went great between them. She didn't want to jeopardize them by bringing up the other man. She was certain that she didn't have romantic feelings for Eric; she had time to process everything and both the talks with her therapist and her boyfriend helped her understand why she was jealous in the first place. She was selfish and she admitted it. She wanted Eric to remain her friend and focused on her. She knew it was wrong and she vowed that she would change her attitude and thinking. It was wrong not just toward Eric but also toward herself. She couldn't always rely on the man to rescue her. She had Tobias for that. And even so, she needed to learn to rescue herself and not have to rely on anybody to do that for her. She decided to answer the phone but remained inside the house. The door was open so Tobias would definitely hear her side of the conversation.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi, Tris," Eric said and his voice was foreign to her. He sounded weak, exhausted. She wondered what happened. "How have you been?" he asked her. She thought for a moment of what to say. She didn't want to just yell at him for leaving her. In the end, he didn't really leave her; he just left everything and everyone.

"I'm good, thanks for asking," she said politely, her answer automatic. "How have you been?" she asked in a casual tone but she was anxious to know where he was and why he never called.

"Been traveling," was all he said. Traveling? "Traveling where?" Tris wondered, but kept the thought to herself.

"That's good. I'm in Hawaii now," she quickly said. She didn't really know why she said it, perhaps to show him that she too could pick up her things and leave, just like he did. But as she told him that she heard how petty she sounded and almost regretted it.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you or answer any of your texts," he said after a minute of silence on both ends.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask. What's with that?" she asked and couldn't contain her frustration. She was sick of not knowing his reasons. She knew she had no right to demand explanations, but for their friendship's sake she considered she deserved at least some kind of information from him.

"You know I'm in love with you," he said the words for the first time out loud to her. Tris remained silent, shocked by his admission. Not the fact that he was in love with her, but that he told her. He always made it a point to hide his feelings, but maybe he did so because he was her teacher and it wouldn't have been appropriate or because later she and Tobias became a couple. "But I know you love your boyfriend and you would never cheat on him. I needed to leave to see what my life would be like without you in it." Tris listened to him unsure of what to say or if she should have said anything at all. She had questions, but before she could ask any he continued. "I'm back in New York. Maybe after you come back too we could meet for a coffee and talk," he said and Tris could hear the hopeful tone in his voice. He still sounded strange to her but she kept that to herself.

"Won't I see you at school?" Tris asked understanding the meaning of his question.

"No. I sent in my resignation," was all he said without giving away anything else. They decided that Tris would call him once she was back in the city. They hung up and Tris kept staring at her phone. She knew that the first conversation she would have with Eric would be awkward but it was even more awkward than she anticipated.

"You okay?" Tobias asked her, startling her. She jumped up a little at the sound of his voice and stared at him. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay. I just kept thinking of my conversation with Eric," Tris said. She knew he heard her and must have figured she was talking to the other man.

"What did he say?" he asked, but almost regretted it when she frowned. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said and sat down next to her on the couch.

"No, I want to. It was strange. He sounded, I don't know, different. But bad different," she added. She didn't really know how to describe it. "He wants to meet me when I get back and I agreed. I want to set things straight between us and if there's any chance we can still be friends I would like that, but if not I will understand and accept that too. But I want him to know how I feel; how I feel about you and how I feel about him," she said and Tobias watched her intently. He wanted to ask how she felt, although he had a pretty good idea of her answer. Tris smiled warmly at him and cupped his face. "Eric will always have a special place in my heart. He was a very great help when I needed it and I felt I could talk to him the way I couldn't to the others. He helped me out of a very dark place and I will be forever grateful for that. I love him, but it's an innocent love between very good friends; but if he decides that we can't be friends any longer because of his romantic feelings toward me, then I'll respect his decision to cut all ties between us, even if it hurts. You, on the other hand, I love you with all my heart. I can't imagine a single day without you. I didn't really know what love is before I fell in love with you. Tobias, you are the love of my life, I'm certain of it," she said and he smiled lovingly at her. Hearing those words made his heart skip a beat and then speed up so fast that he was sure she could see the hard pounding in his chest. He cupped her face in his large palms and kissed her passionately leaving them both breathless and panting. He leaned his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes.

"You are the love of my life, Beatrice Prior. I'll never love another woman, I swear," he said grinning widely, feeling like a little boy on Christmas. She had no idea what her words meant to him. He knew for a long time already that he loved her forever, that he wouldn't love anyone ever again if she would leave him. The doubts he held in his heart evaporated as she spoke the words he had been longing to hear. That was all he ever wanted and all he ever needed from her. Even if she would never marry him they would still be together. Forever.

The vacation in Hawaii ended too soon for both lovers liking. Tobias flew with her to New York and spent another two days with her before he had to return to Chicago. Unfortunately, he couldn't visit her the following weekend and Tris had a few exams she couldn't miss, but since Christmas was almost there and the young students would receive a two weeks break they decided to just meet again for the holidays. Just like the year before Andrew and Marcus rented a house in Aspen for their families and if everything would go according to plan even Joe and the Pedrads would be there. The house was slightly bigger than the one from the previous year, so the two patriarchs were confident everyone would have a place to sleep.

After Tobias left the Big Apple Tris called Eric to meet him, but at first he didn't answer. Tris thought maybe he changed his mind about meeting her, maybe he left again. It was only after two days since she made the call that he returned it. She was angry when she saw his picture on her phone screen and she had every intention of yelling at him, but it wasn't his voice that she heard through the speaker, but a woman's.

"Tris Prior?" the woman asked. Tris wondered who she was. Was she Eric's girlfriend? Why would she call Tris using Eric's phone.

"Yes," she answered a little nervous.

"My name is Sophia Berninski. I'm Mr. Masterson's attorney," she introduced herself. Attorney? Why would Eric need an attorney? Did he do something?

"Where's Eric?" she asked and somehow Tris knew that whatever the woman might tell her it wouldn't be good.

It took Tris nearly two hours with the traffic in the city to meet Ms. Berninski at her office. The moment she told the receptionist of the large New York law firm who she was and who she was meeting, the young woman of Asian descent led her into a small conference room where she was asked to wait. Before the receptionist left she asked Tris if she needed anything but Tris politely declined. The only thing she needed was to talk to this attorney who gave her one of the most shocking news of her life.

Tris sat down on one of the numerous chairs in the room and nervously started tapping the polished table. She noticed that the room was bright, the large wall of windows providing the room with enough daylight and judging by the orientation of the room it was that way for many hours during the day. There were two large vases with an eclectic bundle of flowers each, the colors offering a pleasant contrast to the black and white conference room that seemed almost clinical. The variety of odors while strong wasn't unpleasant and offered even some comforting sense of home. If the reason of her being in that room wouldn't have been as heartbreaking as it was, Tris might have even savored her stay there.

It seemed to her like hours passed when the door to the conference room opened anew and a tall woman with blonde hair, cut in a stylish bob, piercing blue eyes behind classy glasses and wearing an attire specific to her job, entered and walked to where Tris sat down. The latter stood up and shook the outstretched hand and they introduced themselves in person. Tris sat back down and the woman, Ms. Berninski, sat across from her with a file in front of her on the table.

"As I have told you on the phone, Mr. Masterson hired me to take care of his legal issues. He asked me to be the one to deliver the news myself if he wouldn't be able to do it in person," she started talking. Tris looked at her, unsure how to respond or if any kind of comment would have been appropriate or not. She was never in such a situation before and frankly hoped to avoid it in the future if possible.

"Please, explain to me what happened. I just talked to him on the phone a week ago," Tris said and fought very hard to keep her tears at bay.

"Mr. Masterson was diagnosed almost a year ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At first he responded well to the treatment, but then his condition got worse and he went to a clinic in Houston, Texas. Unfortunately, the experimental drug they tried didn't work and the cancer spread again. Ms. Prior, Mr. Masterson put me in charge of informing you of all this in the event he wouldn't survive it until you two would meet again. He wrote a letter to you after he spoke to you on the phone, fearing he wouldn't be alive by the time you would return," she told Tris and by then the younger woman was full on crying. She couldn't believe what she heard. When the attorney called her and asked for a meeting Tris demanded to know why and why it wasn't Eric the one calling. Reluctantly, Ms. Berninski told her of Eric's demise, three days prior to the phone call. The entire ride to the attorney's office Tris believed all to be a lie or misunderstanding, but then the older woman handed her an envelope with Tris' name written on it in Eric's handwriting. The attorney explained that Eric gave her that envelope before he died asking for it to be handed personally to Tris.

Ms. Berninski explained her everything that transpired ever since Eric was diagnosed, trying to keep it as simple and short as possible. She then handed Tris the information regarding the funeral and offered the younger woman her sincerest condolences. Tris was speechless. She didn't know what to do. She left the building and walked on the busy sidewalk disregarding everything around her. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket but she couldn't bring herself to answer it. However called her would have to wait until she found her voice again.

She couldn't believe Eric was dead. He was her friend and she didn't even know he was sick. What kind of a friend was she to not have noticed his sickness? What kind of friend was she to hurt him over and over again and still feel jealous when he left? Even if he would have left with another woman, which in retrospect would have been a hundred times better, she still had no right to feel anything other than happiness for him. But even after he returned she didn't inquire more about his well-being. She heard it clearly in his voice that something was wrong with him, but she didn't ask. Why didn't she ask? She didn't deserve a friend like him.

Tris walked for hours when her phone started vibrating again. She stopped and sat down on a park bench and looked at the missed calls. Everyone called her: Tobias, Cameron, Matt, her friends, even her parents. All of them sent messages that still remained unanswered. She wasn't ready to talk to any of them, but they needed to know what was going on. She looked through her contact list and dialed Tobias' number. The phone rang twice before her boyfriend picked up.

"Tris?" he asked uncertain.

"Babe," she said, her voice breaking.

"Honey, what's wrong? Where are you?" Tobias asked concerned.

"Eric died," she said and tears streamed down her face.

"What?" he asked incredulously. Did he hear right? Eric died? "Tris, honey, where are you?" he asked again.

"I don't know. A bench," she said and looked up to see the street name, but there was none she could see or perhaps the tear curtain prevented it.

"Baby, please, take a cab and get yourself home. I'll call Matt and tell him what happened," he told her and Tris could hear him dial a series of digits on his desk phone. She could hear how he spoke to Matt and informed him. "Babe, you still with me?" he asked.

"Yes," she said sniffling.

"Please, take a cab and go home," he pleaded with her.

"Alright."

As Tris stood up and walked toward the nearest cab Tobias stayed on the phone making sure that she really drove home. He heard her tell the cab driver the address of her apartment and stayed with her on the phone until he could hear his sister and Lynn welcoming their friend home. Matt picked up Tris' phone and told Tobias that his cousin arrived there safely and that they would take care of her. Tobias thanked him profusely and hung up. He immediately went to see his father and asked for a couple of days off, not wanting to leave his girlfriend alone in her time of grief. He didn't like the fact that Eric was in love with her, but the other man never tried anything to separate them and Tobias certainly never wished for Eric's untimely death.

Thankfully, Marcus had no objections and even offered Tobias to take the company's private jet. Under normal circumstances Tobias would have declined, but he wanted and needed to be with Tris sooner rather than later.

He boarded the plane in less than an hour after he hung up the phone. He didn't need to get anything from his apartment; he had a drawer at Tris' place. He would ask Matt to lend him a suit for the funeral, since the two men were the same size. Within three and a half hours the plane landed and Cameron picked him up. He left Matt in charge of taking care of Tris and the others, since all of them were good friends with Eric.

The ride seemed even longer than the flight and Tobias was anxious to hold Tris. He knew that she would feel guilty about this, despite not knowing what happened to Eric. He didn't want to upset her further and just kept talking about how much he loved her and that they would see each other soon. However, he thought it wiser to inquire the missing piece of information from Cameron since he surely must have known the story. The older man explained, as far as he understood from his niece, that Eric was diagnosed with cancer. At first the treatment worked but then the cancer came back worse and it killed Tris' former teacher. Tobias felt bad. And if he felt bad he could only imagine how Tris felt. Eric, whether Tobias liked it or not, was an important part in Tris' life and she did care for him deeply.

The moment he and Cameron stepped inside the apartment and Tris saw her boyfriend she got up off the couch and ran into his arms sobbing. He picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. He was conflicted, because his sister was upset too, but when Marlene nodded he smiled weakly at her and left the rest of them in the living room.

Once they were settled on her bed, his back against the headboard and her back against his chest, her head on his shoulder and slightly tilted so that she could see him, it seemed to Tobias like it was just yesterday when they were in the same position after he found out about the abuse. He held her tightly and waited for her to stop crying. Tris was thankful that he came; she knew she was a mess and needed him maybe more than ever.

It took her a while to calm herself down, but when she did she fished out the letter Eric wrote to her. She didn't want to open it in front of the others, even though they knew about Eric's feelings toward her. She wanted to read the letter alone. But at the same time she wanted Tobias to know the content of it. They swore they would never keep secrets from each other and even if she wanted to read the letter alone, she couldn't find the strength to do so.

"Eric wrote this letter for me before he died," she said and felt how Tobias shifted. He kissed her temple and moved so that he could stand up, but Tris put her right hand over his thigh and stopped him. "Please, stay with me while I read it. Okay?" He wasn't sure if it was wise to stay in the room while his girlfriend read a letter from a man who loved her. But she asked him and he couldn't deny her his support when she needed it most. He kissed her again and resumed his earlier position.

"Okay," he said softly.

Tris opened the envelope clumsily but made sure not to tear into the letter. She unfolded the paper and recognized Eric's handwriting. It wasn't a long letter, only one sheet of paper and it seemed he wrote just enough to fill one side and ended it on the reverse. She started reading it in her mind. If Eric said something upsetting she didn't want Tobias to hear it.

Dear Tris,

When you read these lines I'll be no longer alive. You probably have questions and I hope Ms. Berninski explained about my illness. I'm not going to talk about it in this letter. This letter is just for you. I want you to know that I loved you from the moment I saw you. I don't know how it happened or why, but it did. But I'm glad I fell in love with you.

I wish I could have had the courage to tell you how I felt before you fell in love with Tobias. That's my only regret, staying quiet. I always told myself it was because of what you went through and that you weren't ready. And maybe that was true. But I was also scared that you might reject me. I saw how you rejected everyone else. I was content to be just your friend and while you may think I'm lying, I'm not. I was very happy to be your friend because I had this great opportunity to see the wonderful human being you truly are. You often questioned that after the incident, but you are wonderful. You were like a phoenix reborn from your own ashes, a magnificent symbol of rebirth and I admired you for your strength. But I was also scared of it. How could I have ever hoped to win your love when I was so afraid to tell you how much I came to love you?

When you came to me and told me very excited about this man you were seeing I feared that maybe he would be a second Drew. I insisted on meeting him for two reasons: I wanted to make sure he wasn't like that bastard and I wanted to see how the man looked like that had the courage to fight for your love. I was jealous and hurt and angry at you, at him, at me. But you flourished, you grew, you were happier than I've ever seen you. The music you created after you fell in love with Tobias was inspiring and giving me hope. And I needed it, because the doctors told me my cancer had returned.

I left without telling you because I didn't know how. I didn't want your pity and I didn't want you to remember me weak and sick and dying. I wanted you to remember the good times we shared, the laughter, the meaningful discussions, the music we created together.

Before I left there was a moment of insanity, I suppose that would be the most accurate way of describing it, in which I thought if I'd told you about my illness you would come with me to Houston and maybe I would get better. I know that the idea was preposterous so I quickly gave up on her. I imagined for a very long time how it would feel like to hold you in my arms, to kiss your sweet lips, make love to you, tell you how much I love you. But every time I thought of using my illness to pity it out of you I quickly remembered your face when you told me that you loved Tobias. I should have felt jealous, but instead I always smiled. The only thing I ever wanted was to see you happy and I admit a big part of me hoped that I would bring you that happiness. I even considered fighting for your love, despite your boyfriend, but then fate revealed itself to me and I was shown once again that you aren't meant to be mine.

I hope that Tobias is worthy of your love and I hope that he can be the man you deserve by your side. I know that you will feel sad after I die, maybe even think that you could have done something or seen my illness sooner, but there's nothing you could have done. I made sure that no one knew about my death sentence.

Tris, I will always love you, even beyond the grave. You gave me light when I saw only darkness and hope that this isn't the end, that our spirits will transcend this life and live on forever. Wherever you may go remember that I'll always watch over you and you'll never be alone. I love you, my sweet angel.

Yours forever,

Eric.

Tris cried for almost an hour after she read the letter. Tobias held her close and allowed her to mourn her friend. By the time Tris fell asleep he wondered if he should read the letter or not. But Eric wrote it to her and no matter the content it was for her eyes only. If she ever decided to share the content with him he would listen to her. However, if she chose not to he would respect her decision and not speak of it again.

He left the room quietly as to not disturb her and went into the living room where he found the other's watching pictures on one of their laptops. He sat down at the dining table where Cameron drank some tea. He didn't know what to say or if he should say anything. They all knew Eric better than he did and all cared for the late teacher. Tobias felt it would be disrespectful to even speak of him in their presence so he remained quiet.

"How is she?" Marlene asked as she sat down next to her brother.

"Not good. I've never seen her like that," Tobias confessed.

"She cared a lot for Eric, we all did. But he helped her a lot after what happened with Drew. We tried to make her open up, but she just shut us out. We didn't know why at the time, but we were glad she talked to Eric and he was the one who gave her Johanna's number. Between Johanna and Eric Tris returned to her old self," Marlene explained.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tobias asked his sister curiously.

"Toby, I love you, you're my brother. But I know that you never liked Eric and you had every right not to. We all saw that he loved Tris, but she never gave him hope. She only saw him as a friend. You don't have to be jealous," she said snaking her arm around her brother's.

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are. But it's fine. It shows that you love her just as much as she loves you."

"I know, Mar. And contrary to what you think I'm not jealous. Tris and I are past that," he said and Marlene gave him a skeptical look. "Alright, we're pretty much past it. I know that she only cared for Eric like a friend but my problem is not him, but her. How can I help her?"

"Give her time," Cameron weighed in. Tobias turned his head to watch the older man. "She needs time to process everything. And I'm sure she'll open up to you sooner than you think."

"I hope so. I hate seeing her like this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please review.


	20. Let's do it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello my fellow initiates. I'm sorry for posting this late. I was battling with myself because this story was beta read by three lovely ladies: PMakepeace98, Hplcgirl and DivergentPansycake46. I usually send them the chapters to beta read but since I took an hiatus writing it I revised the earlier chapters. Starting with this chapter I made some changes, which I now find more appropriate than the original version. Girls, I didn't send this to you because I wanted to surprise you, even though you might have already guessed a few things *chuckle*. Without further ado, here's chapter 20. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The funeral was lovely. Almost everyone who knew Eric from Juilliard came and some even spoke up and had only wonderful things to say about him. Tris barely cried. She doubted there were any more tears left to do that. She surprised everyone when she too stood up and spoke kind words about Eric. Without going into details she told everyone gathered there what a great friend he was, how he helped her during a rough time, how he always guided her and inspired her. It wasn't uncommon, since he was a wonderful person to almost everyone he knew. Without making many friends he had many students gathered around him to guide and inspire them and everyone was incredibly sad to lose such a valued teacher and musician.

Two days before Christmas the four friends together with Matt and Cameron arrived in Aspen where they were received by their families. Tobias had told everyone about the death of one of their friends and asked everyone to not mention it unless any of the four youngsters did.

Tris was glad to be with her family. She missed them all terribly. Eric's death was still stinging, but it made her realize how fragile and short life can be. She promised herself to not waste time and tell people what she thought, what she felt and what she wanted. She was done hiding. She wasn't a scared child anymore, but a brave woman. She went through so much since she decided to be her own person that she could look into a mirror and be proud of the strong female who was looking back at her. She went through hell and back and she survived it. Yes, she had help and she was thankful for each and every one of them, but she came a long way and she knew she had it in her to survive anything life threw at her. Besides, she wasn't alone. She had her best friends, her parents, her brother and sister, her cousins, all of her friends and family, but more importantly she had Tobias. Together they could survive anything. The world itself could try to separate them and they would still find each other and fight alongside for their love. She felt blessed.

Later that night, when everyone was in their rooms, most of them probably asleep, Tris kept scribbling down something in her notebook. Tobias was still reading the book Matt recommended when he stopped and looked discreetly at the words she kept writing down. He almost chuckled and chocked all at the same time when he saw what she was doing. She was doodling Mr. and Mrs. Tobias Eaton over and over again. The gesture was both silly and exciting. He wouldn't expect a grown woman to do something so childish, but then again it was Tris. She loved to do these things because they made her feel comfortable. He wondered if she only did that for the sheer fun of it to see how it would look like or if she changed her mind regarding marriage. Tris sensed that he was staring at her and turned her head. He actually blushed slightly when she caught him snooping and Tris chuckled.

"See something you like?" she asked teasingly.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he answered with a wide grin.

"Really? What might that be?" she asked him, prolonging their game.

"Something my beautiful girlfriend kept writing over and over again," he said and tilted his head toward the notebook. Tris looked at the sheet of paper before her and barely held back a laugh. Barely.

"Oh. Since we're on the subject, what would you say if there would be a Mr. and Mrs. Tobias Eaton?" she asked and his eyes widened. He hoped she would be ready one day, but knowing her he never expected her to bring it up so soon.

"I'd say I like the idea. Whenever the future Mrs. Tobias Eaton is ready I'll definitely be ready," he said with an excited smile.

"Ground rules," she said and sat up so quickly her notebook fell down to the floor. Tobias chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"What kind of rules?" he asked amused.

"When we get married," she said kneeling next to him on the bed and facing him, "we'll decide what, when, how etc. Our moms aren't permitted to take over and turn this into a circus," she said and he nodded. He would agree to anything she asked for as long as she married him. But as he thought of what she said he couldn't help but wonder what made her change her mind. Not a month ago she told him how she overheard their dads in the kitchen and that she wasn't ready yet.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked.

"Eric. His death actually. Our time here on this Earth is so short and fragile that it seems like a waste to not take full advantage of what we have right in front of us. I love you, Tobias, more than anything in the world and I know I will always want to be with you. We could spend our whole lives just boyfriend and girlfriend and I wouldn't mind, because in the end that piece of paper doesn't change anything except maybe my last name. I don't need a paper to tell me that I love you or that you love me and that we belong together. But at the same time it says so much. We commit to each other and promise to always be there for the other and the whole world knows it too, because we made it official. There's no need to hide anymore or fear that someone might separate us. Tobias, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, have a family with you, but not a boring one," she quickly added as his grin got wider with each word. Tris looked toward her nightstand and grabbed her keychain. She started playing with it or at least that's what it looked like to Tobias. He recognized the microphone keychain he gave her. He found it one weekend when he couldn't visit her in New York in a gift shop near his apartment. It was nothing really but the moment he saw it he thought of her and bought it just because. He gave it to her and she looked happier about a five dollar piece of junk than she would have been over some expensive jewelry. Tris finally managed to remove the microphone keychain and held up the ring it was attached to. "Tobias Eaton, will you marry me?" she asked and Tobias' jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that she asked him to marry her. He always thought that he would ask her. He even had several ideas of how to pop the question, but like most things in their relationship the marriage proposal was unconventional too.

"Yes," he said smiling and pulling her toward him, kissing her fiercely. They made out for a while, Tris ending up on top of her brand new fiancé. As they pulled apart they stared into each other's eyes and smiled. "I don't want to spoil the moment, but I need to ask you," he said and she nodded. "Are you sure? Because if you're not we can," he stopped because she put her finger over his lips.

"I am sure. I want you and that's all I care about. I know you won't be one of those husbands that will be intimidated by his awesome, super successful, mega popular, extra beautiful, fantastically hot wife. We will support each other just like we did so far, we will love each other each day a little more, we will fight and make up, we will grow together both as individuals and as a couple, we will face everything together and we'll be just fine," she said confidently.

"You have really thought this through," he said with a chuckle.

"Don't sound so surprised. It took me a lot of planning to propose to you the way I did," she said and lifted her nose a little in an attempt to seem pretentious, but Tobias knew better.

"So, my usually go with the flow girlfriend actually planned this?" he asked amused.

"First of all, it's fiancée. And secondly, yeah, took me like two whole minutes to get that damn ring off my chain," she said and he busted out laughing.

"You're nuts, babe," he said and pulled her down for another kiss.

"Nuts about you," she replied and kissed his jaw line, his scruff tickling her, but she didn't mind that. She liked that tall, dark and handsome vibe.

"And I'm nuts about you."

They celebrated that night until the early morning and Tobias was glad that they weren't in a room near any of their parents'. The next morning Tobias decided to make his fiancée breakfast in bed. He was too excited to sleep any longer and hurried into the kitchen where he made waffles for the two of them, coffee and squeezed some oranges. By the time he finished his best friend came into the kitchen with dark circles under his eyes.

"Morning, man," Tobias greeted.

"Is it morning?" Zeke asked as he poured himself a mug of freshly made coffee.

"Yeah, seven a.m. actually," Tobias said. "Did the baby wake you up?"

"Not ours. Will's. But then Beth started crying and we couldn't put her back to sleep and then Hunter got up and we ended up all four of us in one bed," Zeke said yawning. He sipped the steamy hot beverage in an attempt to wake him up further. "Dude, I love my family, but sometimes I envy you."

"Why?" Tobias asked curiously.

"Your girlfriend isn't the nuts type. She doesn't demand you go shoe shopping with her or some other girl shit. She doesn't talk non-stop about babies or weddings or pre-schools or I don't even know anymore," he said whining and plopped down on a chair.

"Well, Tris isn't into that stuff," Tobias told him honestly, but he wondered if that wouldn't change now that they got engaged. He also wondered if it would be okay to tell his best friend about him getting married, but decided otherwise. He didn't really get the chance to discuss it with Tris yet and he knew she would be upset if he told people before she could tell anyone. They would probably do it when everyone was gathered for lunch.

"I guess. Don't get me wrong. I love Shauna like crazy and those kids she gave me I adore them. I would die if anything would happen to any of them, but sometimes," he sighed.

"Sometimes you need time off," Tobias said.

"Yeah."

"How about this? After the holidays we talk to the guys and have 'a just us guys' weekend," Tobias suggested.

"Sounds great. And maybe afterwards we can give the girls a break," Zeke thought out loud.

"Sure."

Tobias left his friend in the kitchen and made his way to the room he shared with Tris. He opened the door and to his surprise his fiancée was wide awake.

"Did you make us breakfast?" she asked smiling.

"Of course," he answered as he closed the door and walked to her side of the bed and leaned forward to kiss her. He gave her the tray to hold and slipped into bed next to her. They ate the scrumptious meal Tobias prepared for them when he remembered their engagement. "Hon?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you. Would you like us to make a big announcement over lunch or sometime later?" he asked and looked at her.

"Announce what?" she asked, playing dumb, but he could tell she was messing with him, because she grinned widely.

"That you are so crazy about me that you asked me to marry you," he said sipping his OJ.

"Did I?" she asked and laughed a little.

"Mm," he replied and smiled.

"Doesn't sound like me," she said sipping her own juice.

"Admit it. You wanna marry me," he said to her in a sing-song voice.

"Somebody has to. There are so many skanks out there. I doubt Evelyn or Marcus would want something like that as a daughter-in-law," she replied nonchalantly.

"And you being this selfless princess are offering to carry the burden," he adds with a chuckle.

"Pretty much, yeah," she says and they both laugh. "I think lunch would be a good time to make the announcement. But remember our deal. Mom and Evelyn can't plan the wedding," she told him seriously.

"I'll let you tell them that."

"Wuss," she said before taking another bite. He smiled.

By lunch both of them were very nervous. They loved their families and knew that everyone would be thrilled to learn that they would get married.

As everyone finished with their meal Tobias stood up and asked for everyone's attention. All eyes were trained on him and for the first time he felt very nervous. He coughed a little feeling his throat very dry and absentmindedly reached out for Tris' hand. When she grabbed his she squeezed lightly reassuring him, but he still couldn't say a word. Tris stood up and looked at him for a brief moment. She mouthed "together" and he nodded smiling.

"We're getting married," they said in unison. It was so much easier doing it with her than alone. Everyone there looked at them shocked and with their mouths hanging open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What did you think?
> 
> Were you surprised?
> 
> Is it too soon? If so, why do you think that?
> 
> What will their families say?
> 
> And what about the proposal?
> 
> Typical Tris or just ridiculous?


	21. You have got to be kidding me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello my fellow initiates. I have a little announcement regarding this story. It's a two part announcement actually.
> 
> #1 This story will contain two more original song lyrics I wrote specifically for this story.
> 
> #2 This story is nearing it's end. A few more chapters, guys.
> 
> Enjoy!

"You're getting married?" Shauna was the first to speak.

"Yup," Tris answered smiling happily.

"You?" Uriah asked pointing at her.

"Ahem," she replied.

"Tris Prior, who thinks marriage is for losers, gets married?" Lynn asked and some of the married women scoffed, while the men mostly laughed or chuckled.

"Yeah," Tris confirmed again.

"The same Tris Prior that said that she would only get married if she were abducted by aliens, forced to eat Brussel sprouts, made to watch "The Brady Bunch" and forced to wear pink floral dresses, since those scenarios were just as unlikely as her getting hitched?" Marlene asked and Tobias started laughing.

"Yeah, dude. I'm getting married," she said with a wide grin.

"Are you dying?" Uriah asked.

"No," Tris said appalled.

"Do you have a brain tumor that makes you all crazy?" Marlene asked and her brother replied for his fiancée.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? That she would have to be insane to marry me?" he asked and could almost swear all four of them would reply.

"Yeah," Marlene, Uriah, Lynn and even Tris answered which prompted most of the people gathered there to laugh.

"You're really getting married?" Lynn asked more calmly then before.

"Yeah and I know what you think. It's true that I've always considered people who get married to be really messed up shits," she said and avoided to look at anyone who was married. "But Tobias and I love each other and he is it for me," she added.

"She is it for me," Tobias agreed with his fiancée. "We thought things through and decided that we want to do this. We could have lived on just as boyfriend and girlfriend, but we want to commit to each other and in front of our loved ones."

"Oh, my baby, I'm so happy," Natalie said and stood up to go and hug her daughter. She embraced her tightly and kissed her head while whispering how much she loved her and that she only wished the best for her. She then hugged her future son-in-law and one by one everyone congratulated them until only Andrew remained.

"Dad?" Tris asked uncertain. She knew that he had a rough time accepting that she was a grown up and overreacted when he found out about her relationship. But since then he seemed supportive.

"I can't believe my baby girl is getting married," he said with tears in his eyes.

"Tell me about it," she joked. Andrew hugged her tightly and tried to think of how to ask her what he needed to without Tobias hearing him.

"Are you sure, sweetheart? I don't want you to do something just because I or your mother or even Tobias expect you to do. We will all love you regardless," he said in a whisper, trying to reassure her that even if she opted otherwise they would still support her. Andrew and Natalie learned a lot about their daughter and somehow regretted many wasted years. They did their best raising all three of their children, but somehow their youngest gave them more headaches than the other two siblings combined. But nevertheless they loved Tris just as much as they loved Shauna and Caleb. They both felt betrayed and disappointed whenever they learned of yet another lie the girl told them. They also knew that Tris felt rejected and worthless compared to her older siblings, nothing farther from the truth, but the mind of a child is often misunderstood by a parent and one could only hope to be the best parent one can be. He and Natalie swore to be more open-minded and supportive when it came to Tris' choices, but hearing that she wanted to get married seemed odd to them, as it did to everyone else. The girl was always very verbal about not wanting to be like her sister and brother and yet there she was announcing her engagement. Andrew felt it was his duty to both question her reasons and reassure her of an alternative in case she did it for anyone other than herself.

Tris held her father close and smiled a little. She knew it would be a shock once her family and friends would hear her talk about getting married, but she was sure of her decision. If anything, marrying Tobias was probably the only thing she was ever one hundred percent sure of. She even questioned Divergent at some point, but never her decision to marry him. She loved him and there was no doubt in her mind that they would spend the rest of their lives together.

"I'm sure, dad. I'm not doing this for anyone other than me. Well, me and Tobias. We both want this. I know you know about my friend who died and it made me realize that we're wasting precious time. There's no one else I'd rather be with than him and I want to commit to our relationship. I'm ready, dad. I'm ready to be a grown up." Andrew pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes. Her sparkling orbs were sincere and hopeful and filled with love. He never wanted anything other than for his children to be happy and if Tobias made her happy he, as her father, would be grateful to the younger man.

"I love you, baby girl," he told her before kissing her forehead gently.

"I love you, too, daddy."

"Does this mean you give us your blessing?" Tobias asked as he approached the two. He stood aside while Tris and her father talked quietly, not wanting to intrude on their father-daughter moment.

"Yes, Tobias. I hope that you know what a treasure my little girl is and if you ever hurt her I'll be your worst nightmare, boy," Andrew said trying to sound intimidating. Tobias nodded. He understood what Tris' father asked, but he would never hurt her. He loved her too much and would spend the rest of his days making her happy. He wouldn't just try but succeed. Tris deserved it and he was happy that she allowed him to join her on her path through life.

"Don't worry, Andrew. Your daughter is in good hands. I will always love and cherish her," Tobias vowed and the two men shook their hands.

"Dad, enough of the commando crap," Shauna said and everyone started laughing. She knew how uncomfortable things would get if her old man would continue. "Tris, show us the ring," she demanded from her younger sister.

"Yeah and tell us how he proposed," Christina said stepping closer. One by one all the women, including Lynn and Marlene encircled Tris and demanded details. Tris tried to calm them down but they wouldn't shut up. So Tris did the only thing she could think of: she whistled loudly. They all stopped and Tris smirked.

"Hon, where's the ring?" Tris asked Tobias.

"Uh, bedroom?" Tobias said unsure.

"Why would it be in the bedroom?" Evelyn asked.

"Why aren't you wearing it?" Natalie inquired curiously.

"Uh, it doesn't fit me," Tris said and held back a chuckle. They would have all a heart attack once they found out how the young couple got engaged.

"Dude, you bought a ring that doesn't fit her?" Zeke asked his best friend and shook his head disapprovingly.

"Actually, it's not really an engagement ring," Tobias said and held out his hand for Tris to take. She quickly left the circle the women created around her and joined her fiancé.

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked intrigued.

"Should I? Or do you wanna?" Tris asked with a grin. "I mean, you bought it," she added, trying to keep up the charade. Tobias nodded.

"It's actually the ring from a keychain," he said, trying to keep a straight face.

"What?" many of them asked, while others just stared at them in disbelief.

"You proposed to my daughter with a keychain ring?" Andrew asked. He wasn't mad, but he wasn't pleased either.

"Actually, she proposed to me," Tobias said grinning.

"What?" almost all of them asked stunned.

"You proposed to him?" Shauna asked.

"Yeah."

"But it's the guy's job to do the proposing," Christina said a little disappointed.

"I think it's beautiful," Cara said and all of them turned around. She came into the room just as Tobias and Tris announced their engagement with her newborn baby. She cradled her son to her chest and smiled to the newly engaged couple. "I don't think it matters who proposes to whom. The important thing is they love each other and both want this. You should all stop wondering so much and accept it."

"Wise words, sis," Tris said smiling. She and Cara weren't very close, but the few times they actually talked to each other without anyone else present they bonded and even stayed in touch ever since that day at the hospital when everyone learned of Tris' and Tobias' relationship. She was very supportive and actually gave Tris good advice.

"Hold on. Let me understand this," Evelyn said. "You asked Tobias to marry you?"

"Yes," Tris confirmed.

"Using a ring from a keychain?" she asked to straighten out her facts. Tris nodded.

"Not just any keychain, mom," Tobias added. "I gave her that keychain. So, I guess I bought my own engagement ring," he said and most started laughing.

"This is just weird," Evelyn said sighing.

"No, mom," Marlene said.

"This is so Tris," her friends said in unison.

"I think we stretched this topic out enough. Let's celebrate," Marcus announced and without anyone noticing he brought in a champagne bottle while Caleb, Will and Zeke brought glasses to toast on the newly engaged couple. They celebrated for a while until Natalie asked the question they all seemed very interested in.

"Did you set a date?" she asked excited.

"No, mom. We just got engaged. We haven't really talked about it," Tris explained.

"Maybe they should wait for Tris to finish school," Marcus suggested.

"Like I said, we haven't discussed it. But we wanted to make it official," Tris adds.

"Yeah. Besides we have time. There's no rush," Tobias says wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Twis get mawied?" Hunter asked excited. Tris crouched down to pick up her nephew and held him close to her chest.

"Yes, big guy. I'm going to marry Tobias."

"Toby?" Hunter asked looking from Tris to her fiancé.

"Yes, big guy," Tobias said happy and Hunter frowned.

"What is it, baby?" Tris asked him confused.

"Will you have baby?" he asked innocently and some of the others chuckled.

"Uh," Tris said unsure how to answer that question. They haven't talked about kids, but she was sure Tobias wanted them. She, on the other hand, while loving kids, especially since Hunter was born, wasn't ready yet.

"One day," Tobias answered for her and she looked over her shoulder to find him smile lovingly at her.

"Can be boy?" Hunter asked in his juvenile excitement.

"We'll see," Tobias said with a chuckle.

"You still love me then?" the little boy inquired.

"Of course we will. You are our favorite nephew, right Tobias?" Tris asked him smiling, regaining some of her composure.

"Of course."

The family sat down and as expected everyone had opinions about the wedding or even the honeymoon. Tobias and Tris let them all state whatever idea they had, knowing full well that in the end they would do it their way. Besides, they hadn't even decided on a date so neither of them saw any harm in allowing their families, which translated in the women, to plan the wedding.

After the women got engrossed in a conversation about flowers and themes, the men left the dining room and headed outside to either smoke or drink some coffee.

Tobias looked happier than ever and Marcus was glad that he finally found someone to settle down with. The few women his son brought home were beautiful, no argument there, but he could see that Tobias only introduced them to his parents to spite them, especially Evelyn who liked to meddle.

As the men went on from discussing the wedding of the youngest born Prior to the oldest born Eaton, Tris snuck out and tapped her father lightly on the shoulder. He was standing to the side and talking on the phone. He acknowledged her and once he was done on the phone they entered without anyone spotting them. Tris needed to talk to her father and she needed to do it then before she lost her courage again.

They went into the study were they sat down in front of the cold fireplace and Andrew waited patiently for her to start speaking. But when she remained silent he worried.

"What is wrong, sweetheart?" he asked and she looked up at him.

"Daddy," she said chocked up. Andrew got up and pulled her up as well, wrapping his arms around her.

"Whatever it is, I'm here for you. I love you, baby girl," he told her reassuringly.

"Dad, there's so much I need to tell you, but I just don't know where to start," she said sobbing. It broke Andrew's heart each time she cried, each time any of his loved ones cried.

"Come on. Let's sit back down and see what is wrong. Okay?" he asked her softly, just like he did when she was a child and had a nightmare. She nodded and they resumed their places on the loveseat. Andrew held her close to him, rubbing her arm and trying to figure out what bothered her. But he knew that without her telling him what it was that upset her he couldn't help her.

"Daddy, I'm sorry," she said sniffling.

"For what, sweetie?" he asked confused.

"For everything. I was such a bad kid. I always blamed it on you and mom or Caleb and Shauna. But it was me. I lied to you guys and told myself you didn't understand me. Well, you didn't, but it wasn't like I was always peachy and chatty with you guys."

"Tris, that's in the past," he tried to tell her. Tris pulled away slightly to look at her father, tears in her eyes.

"No, dad, it's not alright. I was a spoiled little shit who blamed the world for everything that didn't go my way. Whenever times got tough I acted out and ran away. You and mom were even put through hell when I left home and stayed with Uncle Cam. I know you agreed to it and thought it was the best decision at the time, but I was really miserable. I was narcissistic, selfish, spoiled and just obnoxious. You didn't deserve that I treat you the way I did, none of you. And I'm mostly to blame for Uriah, Marlene and Lynn lying to their parents. It was my idea to keep the band secret because I didn't want you to know. I thought you would disapprove and make me stop. I had only my own interest in mind and didn't care about all the lies I told and the things I did."

"Sweetheart, it's in the past," Andrew tried to calm her, since she headed toward a panic attack. He pulled her into his arms and started rocking them both like he did when she was younger.

"No, dad. Please. I've been in therapy for over a year now and I try to be better."

"Therapy?" her father asked. Tris contemplated if she should tell her parents about the rape, but she didn't feel up to it. At least not for now.

"Yes. There was a time when I just didn't care much about anything. If it weren't for Uncle Cam, Matt and my friends I would be a real mess, probably lying somewhere on the sidewalk with a needle in my arm." Tris pulled back again and looked at her father. "Dad, I was bad. Really, really bad. And it wasn't until I hit rock bottom that I listened to people when they told me I was destroying myself. I asked all of them to keep it from you and mom, because I was ashamed," she told him and averted her gaze. It was true, she felt shame, but not so much for the sexual abuse she suffered under Drew, but for her poor behavior and selfishness. The only thing she could hope for was that her family would forgive her, because she was done being that spoiled little brat who thought the world belonged to her.

It wasn't just the rape and everything that followed that made her open her eyes. It was her friends, who always stood by her side, her uncle, despite handling the situation not as an adult but more as a rebel, who always tried to keep her safe and happy. It was because of Matt who acted like a big brother when she thought she couldn't rely on her own. It was Eric who was a friend despite his feelings and always tried to make her see reason and cherish herself. It was because of Johanna who so expertly guided her back to a somewhat normal life. It was because of Tobias who looked past her craziness and the damage that has been inflicted on her. He never saw her as a victim, but as a survivor. He loved her unconditionally and Tris wasn't sure she even deserved him. But for some reason the universe decided to make them fall in love with each other and she vowed that she would dedicate every day of her life to make him happy. He was her rock and her everything and she could kick herself for ever being so blind as to not see it sooner. But then again he was right. If they would have started a relationship a few years before maybe they wouldn't be together anymore. Tris was almost sure he was right about that. She had to learn things and she had to grow. But more importantly she had to open her eyes to the things she had and were of value instead of craving imaginary things that only existed in twisted fairy tales.

And then there were her parents. They loved her so much and Tris just ignored them for most of her young life. She felt unloved and misunderstood but she could see now that it was her own childish stupidity that made her blind. She promised herself to be a better daughter. They deserved it. Both her mother and father did so much for her and her siblings and it was unfair of her to punish them for made up trespasses.

"Dad, I want to be better, I swear. I did so many bad things, mostly to you and mom. You didn't deserve that and I'm really sorry I gave you so much heartache. You guys are the best parents I could have ever asked for. Not once were you unfair or didn't care for me. I was the one who always caused trouble and you were the ones who got me out of it. I thought of myself as cool, especially while lying to you, but by doing so you never knew me and obviously misunderstood me. I am so glad that you forgave the crap I did when I was younger and that you both tried to build something with me. I learned so much about you, things I would have never imagined, because I never really paid attention. I was always so focused on myself and my needs and disregarded everyone else," she kept saying and stumbled over her words. Her father smiled kindly at her and pulled her back to his chest.

"Tris. All this is in the past. I won't deny that it was a trying time and that your mom and I were hurt by all the lies, but let's look forward, honey," he told her. "We all made mistakes and it was mostly because neither of us talked about things. You are a grown-up now and hopefully we can have a better relationship now than we had before."

"That would be great, daddy. I'm really sorry," Tris said into his chest.

"I'm sorry too."

They remained cuddled together for a while longer, just enjoying the precious time they had together. Andrew started talking to her about small things, like what he did at work and Tris shared about her work. While having different careers, both father and daughter were as dedicated and passionate about what they did as the other. Tris promised to keep more in touch and even visit, while Andrew promised he would do the same, especially since he wanted to see his baby girl live in concert doing what she loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What do you think of their families reaction to the engagement?
> 
> What did you think of Hunter's confession?
> 
> What about Tris' conversation with her father?
> 
> When should they get married?


	22. Time flies when you are in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting.

The winter passed and spring announced new beginnings. Tobias' and Tris' anniversary neared and both of them struggled on their own to find the perfect gift. They never outdid themselves when it came to presents; they usually surprised the other randomly which both found more adorable than having to buy something for a specific date.

Tobias thought of buying her jewelry, but then decided against it. Tris wasn't the kind of woman to wear jewelry. But one piece of jewelry he wanted to give her. Perhaps that would be a good anniversary gift. He just needed to talk to the person who currently had it.

Tris searched the internet in hopes she would find a gift for her betrothed. It seemed the whole world wide web was against her since nothing looked good enough or maybe nothing seemed good because in her eyes it needed to be perfect for Tobias.

"What are you doing?" Marlene asked as she sat down next to her on the couch.

"Our anniversary is coming up and I have no clue what to get your brother," Tris said as she put the laptop on the coffee table and leaned against her best friend.

"I'm sure you'll find something. You guys know everything about the other," Marlene said.

"So? Doesn't help me find a perfect gift," Tris replied pouting and Marlene chuckled.

"Why does it have to be perfect?" Lynn asked curiously and sat down on one of the armchairs.

"Because he is always so wonderful to me and I want to get him something that says how much I appreciate him."

"Why don't you marry him? That'll do," Uriah offers as he comes in with a beer in his hand and stands in front of the girls.

"Marry him?" Tris asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" Uriah asked shrugging.

"That's not a present," Tris said scoffing.

"And a tie is?" Lynn countered.

"I wouldn't have bought him a dumb tie," Tris said offended. How could they think she would get him a lousy tie?

"Why don't you give him something personal?" Marlene asked smiling.

"Like what? Her cherry?" Uriah asked grinning and got a glare from each of the girls. "Damn, you guys look like a bunch of gargoyles when you're mad. I'm outta here," he said before putting down his bottle of beer and leaving the apartment.

"Idiot," Lynn muttered.

"What did you mean by something personal?" Tris inquired, interested in what her friend suggested.

"You are a songwriter. Why don't you write him a song?" Marlene asked her.

"Mar, that doesn't work like that," Tris replied.

"I know. But it's just something for him. It doesn't even have to have a melody. It can be a poem. Tell him what you feel."

"Isn't that kind of lame?" Lynn asked, her nose scrunched.

"No. I think it's cute. Think about it, Lynn," Marlene said as she sat up to face her friend better. "They usually gift each other with random stuff for no reason. When was the last time you told my brother why you loved him or how much?"

Tris kept her mouth shut. Marlene had a point. They told each other all the time "I love you" but it became something like "hello" or "goodbye", as if the words didn't mean as much anymore as they once did. But nothing could have been farther from the truth, because Tris loved Tobias each day a little more.

Perhaps Marlene was right. Even if it wasn't a song or a poem she could tell him how much she loved him. Write it down, wrap it nicely and hope he would like it. She could get him something from a store any day.

She decided she needed some time to herself. She left the girls in the living room watching a movie and decided to take a walk. She reconsidered when she checked the time. Tobias would call her soon and she wanted to talk to him privately.

Tris sat down on her bed, the laptop next to her and the notepad in front of her. Each time she put the pencil down she lifted it back up. Nothing came. After the fifth attempt she got frustrated and just threw the notepad away. Tobias called her via Skype and Tris sighed, trying to calm herself, before answering.

"Hey, honey," she said with a smile on her face.

"Hey, babe. What is wrong?" he asked, seeing past the fake smile she put on.

"Nothing," she lied and Tobias gave her a knowing look. "Okay. I wanted to write a song and I'm just uninspired," she said, leaning against the many pillows on her bed.

"Hon, it'll come to you. Don't stress out. So, let's talk about what we'll do for the weekend," he said grinning.

"Why? There something special?" she asked pretending not to know what he is implying.

"I don't know. You tell me," he teased.

"Well, it's not a holiday," she said and put her right index finger over her lips. Tobias shook his head amused.

"Guess again," he said.

"It's neither of our birthdays," she said still pretending.

"Nope."

"Ah, I know," she said excited. Tobias' grin widened. "There's the Game of Thrones marathon I've been waiting for." Tobias' grin faded and a frown took its place. "Uh, baby, you remembered. Thank God, I totally forgot about that. Wait till I tell Uri. He probably forgot too. Can you imagine? Two days of GoT." Tris watched him carefully throughout her rant and barely held back her laughter as his frown deepened.

"Uh, babe, that's not what I," he started saying and Tris could tell he was hurt that she wouldn't remember.

"Oh, lighten up, doofus. It's our one-year-anniversary. How could I forget it?" she asked laughing and the moment he understood her words he smiled brilliantly.

"You tease," he told her. "I wish I'd be there and tickle you for this," he said laughing with her.

"I wish that too. Not the tickling, but you to be here. I miss you," she said and pouted a little.

"I miss you too, baby. But look at it this way. It's already Wednesday afternoon. On Friday I'll be already with you," he told her reassuringly. He was excited. He had more than one surprise for her.

"Yeah. I wish I could be with you right now. I really want a hug," she said a little whiny.

"Tell you this. When I'm over there I'll hug you the entire weekend. Sound good?" he asked excited by the prospect of holding her in his arms.

"No." He scowled.

"Why not?"

"I want some action when you're here. Actually, how about we get a room in a hotel? Maybe the Plaza," she suggested excited.

"Sure. We can do that. But I'll handle it, okay?" he told her and she nodded. It was better that way. She hated the paperwork and organizing stuff.

By eight p.m. they said goodbye since Tris had to get up early for a test. Tobias immediately looked for a room for them but then thought otherwise. It shouldn't be just a room. A suite. He opened up the Plaza Hotel's website to check the suits and availability for the weekend. He knew it was short notice but maybe they would have something.

To his delight they had one last suit available for that weekend. Any other option would have been a regular room or a Legacy suite, which he thought would have been too much.

Friday couldn't come faster for Tris, but unfortunately she still hadn't written anything for Tobias. Each time she picked up the notepad her mind went blank and she got more and more frustrated. Her friends tried to help her, but Tris knew this had nothing to do with them. This was between her and Tobias. She decided to write down all the things she liked or loved about him.

*his humor

*his smile

*his honesty

*his kisses

*the way he makes love to her

*the way he always makes her feel loved and cherished

*how he worships her

*how he fights her

*how he doesn't back down from her shit

*how he accepted her with all her flaws

*how he supported her in everything she did

*how he didn't leave when he learned of the abuse

*how he went to see Johanna even without her, but for her, so that he could help her heal

*his loyalty

*his bravery

*the way he stood up to her father to defend their love

*how he tells her he loves her every time they lie in bed after making love

*the silly little gifts he gets her

*the sweet messages he sends her throughout the day

*how they fit together on the couch while watching a movie

*how he holds her during the night when she had a nightmare

*how he treats her friends like his best friends

*how he showed her that life doesn't end if you are engaged to be married

*how he made her reconsider marriage altogether

*how he makes her feel about having kids one day

*how he pouts when she denies him kisses because it's just too funny teasing him a little

*how he is all whiny when he is sick

*how he goes to the store to get her tampons in the middle of the night

*how he is a wild one in the sack when he wants to

*how he allows her to explore in the bedroom and he is always happy to oblige her every wish

*how he doesn't back down when she's unreasonable and childish

*how he forgives her

*how easy it is to forgive him

*how sweet his lips taste

*the husky sound of his voice in the morning

*how he turns her on with just a smile

*how she could get lost in his eyes

*how she forgets the world when she's in his arms

*how every time she thinks of the future he is always there

*how she thinks of him first thing in the morning and he is the last thing on her mind before she goes to bed

*how she often dreams of him and sometimes they are even dirty dreams

She could continue for days listing all the things she likes about him. Sure, there are things she didn't like. For instance, his pathological need for order on his desktop, how he always left the toilet seat up, how he didn't do the dishes or how he forgets to get her the regular M&M's, not the peanut ones. But all these flaws faded in comparison to all the wonderful things he did for her and the qualities that made him such an amazing human being.

Tris couldn't understand why she couldn't write him a song. She never had writer's block. But maybe he was right. She shouldn't stress out. Take it easy. Relax. It'll come to her. But until it came to her she needed a present.

She thought back to their early conversations. Even while they were just friends it was always easy for her to talk to him. She always saw him as Marlene's big brother or her sister's friend or the son of her dad's business partner. But when she actually started talking to him she realized how easy it was, how soon she trusted him, how well they got along. It was still like that even now that they were involved in a romantic relationship.

Words couldn't describe all that she felt for him. She admired him, she listened to his advice, she enjoyed just hanging out with him, even if it was just for a movie marathon, she loved him for so many reasons. He was her rock and he was the one she always turned to.

On Friday Tobias worked only a half day, wanting to get to New York as soon as possible. Marcus had nothing to object, already knowing what an important day it was for his son and future daughter-in-law. He patted his son on the back and smiled when the elevator door closed.

The flight to the Big Apple took forever in Tobias' mind. He wanted to get there fast but it seemed the whole world was against him, despite being actually on schedule. The moment he stepped out of the airport he hurried to get a cab and drove to Tris' apartment. He didn't need to ring; she gave him a key.

The door flew open and Tris launched herself into the arms of her betrothed. He picked her up, her legs around his waist, his large palms holding her firm behind, her arms pulling him close to her, their lips connected into a scorching, love-filled kiss. They remained like that, lost in their own little world, forgetting that Marlene, Uriah and Lynn were there too. The latter three chuckled or mumbled something, but neither Tobias nor his future bride cared for whatever they had to say.

"I've missed you so much," Tris said detaching her lips from his and started to kiss his face.

"I've missed you too," he said and grinned like a schoolboy.

"Aw," came from Marlene who was happy that her best friend and brother loved each other so much.

"You guys are disgusting," Lynn yelled from the living room.

"Get a room," Uriah said laughing.

"We've got one. At the Plaza," Tobias said pulling back just enough to look at their friends and then his gaze returned to her.

"Really? Oh great. Come to my room and help me pack," she said hopping down and pulling him toward her bedroom. Tobias left his carry on in the small hall and followed her. The moment he stepped inside he was greeted by a familiar sight: clothes and sheets of paper alike scattered over floor and bed. He chuckled to himself. "Do we have the room for just tonight or the entire weekend?" she asked.

"The whole weekend. We have to vacate it Sunday by noon, but that won't be a problem since we can come here," he told her. "But I have a surprise for you. We can check in later. First I want to take you out on a typical Central Park date," he added with a grin. At the mention of a date she looked up from her suitcase that already contained a few pieces that she hid in there before he arrived.

"A date?" she asked with curiosity in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

"Yes, my beloved fiancée, a date. We need to celebrate and what better way than with a romantic stroll through Central Park," he said leaning against the bathroom door.

"When you say romantic," she started saying and he laughed. He knew what she was about to ask.

"Yes, my dear, a romantic stroll through the park with hot dogs and some light beers," he said and she grinned. She left her suitcase for the time being and kissed every inch of his face until her lips finally landed on his and she sighed happily. He loved how easily she was pleased with such simple things. He could buy her anything she wanted but she was happy with a simple hot dog or corn dog or M&M's, even if she thought he forgot she hated peanuts. He liked to drive her nuts some times.

Tris finished with her bag and Tobias carried it outside to place it next to his. They told the others they would return for them later. The three friends just nodded their heads, already engrossed in some sci-fi movie they rented and let the couple be.

The stroll through the park was just like Tobias promised. They watched the little ducks swim around, enjoyed the afternoon sun, talked about simple things, held hands and kissed occasionally without letting it get more passionate. Tobias looked around to find the perfect spot to gift her with that one piece of jewelry she just couldn't refuse wearing. The thought of her actually wearing it made him giddy and he mentally chastised himself for being so girly. Not far from where they were walking Tobias spotted a gazebo. While Tris talked about the new songs the band tried out he discreetly ushered her toward the secluded area where he would give her the Eaton family heirloom.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"I thought it would be nice to rest here for a moment," he said as he embraced her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"We could always rest in our hotel room. Not to mention we could be less dressed in there," she said with a chuckle and she could feel the laughter rumble through his chest.

"Yeah, we could. But isn't it nice out here?" he asked. They made small talk, mainly about the scenery in front of them. Tris commented about the birds returning and took a step forward to watch them play in the warm spring air. Tobias carefully slipped the delicate ring out of his pocket and looked at it for a moment, admiring it and smiling to himself. He knelt down and waited for his fiancée to turn back around to surprise her. He imagined that moment many times and while they were already engaged he wanted to give her that precious ring. It was an old family heirloom that was passed onto every Eaton male for several generations now. His great-grandfather gave the ring to his great-grandmother when he asked her to marry him. It was then passed on to their son, Tobias' grandfather and later to Marcus who then gave it to his own son. Tobias hoped that maybe one day he would pass it on to his son and the tradition would continue.

Tris noticed that her fiancé was awfully quiet and turned around to see what he was up to. To say she was rendered speechless when she found him kneeling down in front of her would have been the understatement of the year. She looked him up and down and couldn't figure out what he was up to, until her eyes left his smiling face and landed on the small ring he held up between his right thumb and index finger.

"What's that?" she asked as a smile found its way on her face.

"Beatrice Prior, I love you with all my heart. I know we've been through a lot together and there is more to come on our path. But I couldn't imagine walking it without you. I can't see a life without you in it. You have been my best friend, my confidant, my partner, my lover, my everything. Please, let me add a few other nouns to describe what you are to me. Tris, you are already the love of my life and I couldn't be happier about that. Will you marry me and become my wife?" he asked a little chocked up. Tris stared at him in wonder as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Tris looked from him to the ring and felt overwhelmed by the sweet gesture. He didn't have to do it and yet he asked her. She knew he loved her and the entire proposing to the other business was just a formality for the two of them. The fact that he took her to a romantic spot away from their friends warmed her heart. He knew how much she disliked it to be all girly in front of the others. She realized he was waiting for an answer despite already knowing what she would say.

"Yes," she said happily and knelt down in front of him, hugging him tightly. Tobias almost fell backwards from the impact but remained steady on the ground holding her close to him. "I love you," she said chocked up.

"I love you, too, baby," he replied.

When Tris finally let go and they stood up Tobias slipped the beautiful rose gold diamond ring on her finger. The design was beautiful and special, a one of kind ring for a one of a kind woman. Tris especially liked how the intertwined leaves and vines made the ring appear as if it was a rose. She never received anything so beautiful and promised to cherish it forever.

"Do you like it?" he asked when she didn't say anything for a while, hoping she did.

"It's beautiful, babe. Where did you find it? It must have cost a fortune," she said looking up at him.

"It's a family heirloom. It's been in my family for generations. It is passed on to every Eaton man to ask his future wife to marry him," he told her and Tris' smile widened.

"That's a beautiful tradition," she said and admired the ring. Knowing about the ring's history she appreciated it even more. It meant more than just an engagement to Tobias, it was his way of telling her that she truly belonged to his family and maybe one day they would pass it on to their son. She wasn't ready to tell him that, yet, but she could see herself having his children. She wasn't scared anymore. She wouldn't be alone, she would never be alone and she would always be able to count on him. They stared at each other and then Tobias pressed his lips gently to hers. The kiss started out sweet and loving but soon became passionate and demanding. Reluctantly, Tobias pulled back, resting his forehead on hers and staring into her eyes.

"We should stop while I can still control myself," he said smiling. She only nodded understanding full well what he meant.

"It's beautiful, Tobias," she said looking at the ring once more. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," he said softly.

They left the park and walked hand in hand back to the apartment where the three friends still watched TV but by the looks of it a second movie started playing. They barely acknowledged the couple's presence when they retrieved their bags and said goodbye for the weekend. Tris chuckled to herself and Tobias had a large grin on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What did you think of Tobias' proposal and the ring?


	23. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello everyone! This chapter contains the second song lyrics I wrote for this story. It's the love song Tris composes for Tobias. I hope you guys like it. Also, here is the link to the picture of the ring that inspired the Eaton heirloom https : / / ro . pinterest . com / pin / 543035667549560551 / (no spaces).
> 
> Enjoy!

Saturday morning Tris woke up unusually early. She untangled herself from her fiancé's embrace and quietly left the bedroom. She closed the door carefully, glancing one last time at the naked form sleeping in the king sized bed and smiled to herself.

She picked up Tobias' shirt that landed next to the sofa and put it on. The suite was warm, but she loved how his shirts smelled of him and made her feel like she was home. Because that's what this was: home. Wherever he was she knew she belonged.

The day before, Tris picked up her acoustic guitar because she just wanted to play a little. It often happened that while Tobias would read a book or do some work on his laptop Tris would softly play or compose new music.

Tris leaned into the comfortable chair closest to the window and started playing. She didn't even know why she picked that tune, but it was like someone was humming it in her ear. Marlene often teased her by saying that her muse lived in her right ear. Tris chuckled. It was too early to order breakfast and she wanted Tobias to be up before she ate.

While playing she stared out the window. Her life was perfect or as perfect as it could be. She had great friends, she got along with her folks, she had a promising musical career and most of all she had Tobias. How could she ever hope to be good enough for him? But for some inexplicable reason he picked her. Her. Tris, over all the other women. She was proud but also a little scared. She wanted to be a good wife for him, because he deserved it. She knew his heart and it was the biggest that ever lived. He did so much for others and asked for so little in return. And it wasn't just for her. He would sit with Marlene on the couch after she had a breakup, despite his own date night. Tris never objected, because she loved Marlene just as much. And even if she and the youngest Eaton weren't BFF's she was Tobias' sister and she couldn't deny him to be there for her. He even helped Uriah be more responsible and make him see reason when he was all childish and acted macho. He offered Lynn to help her learn some karate since he was very good at it, all the while Marlene and Tris just worked out and occasionally watched them spar. Tobias helped Natalie and Evelyn to organize fundraiser events and whenever he could he would volunteer at soup kitchens. He actually convinced the quartet to join him and after a few protests they agreed and realized that it wasn't quite that bad. Yeah, Tobias Eaton had this warmth and light surrounding him. A good person with a great heart. Tris vowed to make him as happy as she could and try to be a better person herself, because he made her one, whether he intended to or not. And each time she looked in the mirror she was proud of the woman she had become: strong, confident, loving, caring, each day more selfless and it wasn't even that hard. He made her want it. He never asked for it, but by the way he treated her with devotion and respect she saw a side of the human condition she never explored. He made her widen her own horizon and see beyond her own pain, grief and darkness. Her friends helped her a lot during the time after Drew, but it was after she truly and deeply fell in love with this man that she saw life in a different light.

Life didn't end with marriage, it just began.

Tris picked up her guitar and started playing softly it wasn't a particular song just some notes in her head that sounded good and she tried them out. But soon a melody formed and she could hear lyrics intertwine with the tune. Oh God, the muse had mercy on her and whispered the love song she so desperately wanted to compose; Tobias' song, the song that expressed her love for him and was a musical testimony of her undying love and devotion for him.

She got so excited that she quickly fished out her notepad where she had written down all the things she loved about him. As sudden as the tunes rang in her head, as quickly the words on her notepad rearranged creating lyrics.

Tris wrote and erased and wrote again line after line until she was satisfied. Nothing less than perfect was acceptable.

Unbeknownst to her, Tobias woke up and looked for his future bride, when he heard soft music coming from the living room. He didn't have anything else other than his briefs in the bedroom and quickly put them on. He tip-toed outside making no noise and listening to his fiancée creating music. It wasn't the first time he witnessed it and he was certain it wasn't the last either. Sometimes she would get so lost in creating her music that she wouldn't hear or see anything around her. He just wanted to approach her; she couldn't see him, since she was sitting in the armchair with her back to the bedroom door, when he heard her sing. At first it didn't make sense but as she continued and mumbled to herself "not good enough" or "that's not really him" he had a feeling she was composing something for him. He decided to wait a while longer and see how far she would get before huffing in frustration as she so often did before resuming altogether.

Words can't describe what I feel

With each kiss we seal our deal

To be together forever and always

From now on until the end of days

You stood by me when it got rough

And cheered me up with your marshmallow fluff

Tobias chuckled hearing her sing that and made her aware of his presence. She turned around, a tint of pink covering her angelic face as she sheepishly looked at him. She wanted it to be a surprise, but she should have thought about it when she started playing her guitar with him just a few feet away in the other room.

"Good morning, sweetheart," he said as he walked closer to her. She looked up and stretched her neck to see him properly since he was still standing behind her. He bent down to place a soft kiss to her lips before taking a seat in the adjacent armchair. He looked down to the floor and saw several sheets of paper with words scribbled in her handwriting and he figured she had been doing this for a while.

"Good morning, baby. How did you sleep?" she asked avoiding the obvious question he probably had on his mind. Tobias smiled kindly and stretched for a moment, his muscles flexing and making Tris' mouth water. She swallowed hard, trying to maintain her composure while her core started overflowing. She was so aroused that she wasn't sure she would be able to remain calm for too long.

"Best sleep in a long time," he answered with a grin. "Watcha doing, babe?" he asked her directly.

"Making music," she answered shortly, her eyes on his and her thighs clenched together, willing the moisture to stay inside. Tobias snickered. He knew damn well which buttons to push to turn her on and he enjoyed watching her all needy for him. Besides, he wouldn't torture her too long, since he himself had a little problem in the crotch area.

"Oh, I see," he replied and looked down at the papers again. "Mind me asking what exactly you are working on?" he asked her and looked her in the eyes. Tris swallowed again. Should she tell him? She wanted it to be a surprise. And she wasn't even done yet.

"I'm working on your anniversary gift," she told him honestly and his eyes widened a little. He figured she was composing something involving him, but he assumed that it would be just another song. She was never specific to mention his name in her songs, even though he knew she was inspired by their relationship and wrote some of the best songs he heard in a while. Of course, he could have been biased, but some of his co-workers and friends who didn't know about Tris and Divergent mentioned that the band's songs got really good lately. To hear her say that the song was specifically for him made his heart swell.

"Really? Can I hear it?" he asked hopeful, but Tris shook her head.

"No," she said and he frowned. She smiled and put her guitar to the side, getting up and sitting down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. His own immediately embraced her small frame pulling her closer to him. "I'm not done yet and I want you to hear it when it's ready," she explained and he nodded. Well, he should have known. She was a perfectionist after all. He kissed the crook of her neck and she giggled. He had another gift for her and didn't really know how to bring it up, but since he knew of her present for him, perhaps it was time for him to reveal his real present.

"I have a gift for you too," he said and Tris pulled away enough to watch him carefully.

"I thought the ring was my gift," she said a little surprised and holding up her left hand admiring the family heirloom. She smiled lovingly at the piece of Eaton family history and was proud to be soon part of it.

"You would have received that ring regardless," he told her. "I'm moving to New York," he told her directly. They both hated long speeches especially when it was about something so important. He talked for a while with his father and Andrew about it. He wanted to come live in New York mainly to be with Tris. She could finish her school and if she would decide to stay and live there he would be fine with that too. He could always work from a home office and only go to Chicago for the very important projects. But as it happens Andrew and Marcus wanted to expand and figured that Tobias would jump at the opportunity as soon as possible. The young man was more than excited to learn that he could keep his job, since he loved it, and be with the woman he loved even more.

Tris looked at him dumbfounded. She thought that perhaps she didn't hear him right and blinked a few times.

"You're moving to New York?" she asked in disbelief. He nodded. She started smiling. "Really?" she double checked and he nodded again. "Oh my God," she shouted and hugged him so tightly that he couldn't breathe.

Once she released him from her vice-like grip and kissed him thoroughly he managed to explain her how he would move to the Big Apple. Tris was more than happy but she couldn't help but wonder if he only did it for her. He answered honestly and said yes. But because of the company expansion he was more than happy. If it would have come to it for him to choose between job and the love of his life he wouldn't have hesitated to pick her. Tris frowned a little. She didn't want to be in his way but then considered his words. Would she do the same? A year ago she would have said no, probably. Six months ago she would have struggled with the answer. But now. Not anymore. She would choose him over career any day. She would always choose him first, the same way he always chooses her.

Tobias continued talking about his job and how excited he was about this new project. In the past Tris would have been bored to death, but she was really interested to know what fascinated him about his desk job. She still didn't understand all that technical mumbo jumbo he was referring to, but it didn't matter. He was happy and so was she.

They spend Saturday in their suite, ordering room service, making love and Tris occasionally detached her lips from her fiancé's because she got inspired again. Tobias didn't mind. He would have, normally, but he was too curious to hear the song she was writing just for him. But he had promised her that while she wasn't done he wouldn't peek or eavesdrop. So, each time she fled the bed she closed the door behind her and he would turn on the TV to watch the news or a movie and chuckled to himself. He was a grown man and what they did was rather childish, but he loved that she brought this side out of him. He felt carefree and relaxed and he wondered if it would have been any other woman if he had felt the same. No, definitely not. Tris was unique and he loved everything about her.

To the musician's surprise she actually finished late that evening. It would usually take a couple of days once the inspiration hit her, but she guessed having him wait for the final result made her work harder or her muse be more inspiring. Whatever the reason she finished the song and was pleased with the end result.

Tris asked Tobias into the living room and they sat in front of each other, Tobias on the couch and Tris on the coffee table. She picked up the guitar and tuned it, before looking up at him.

"This song is for this guy I'm going to marry," she said and Tobias laughed at her introduction. "It's called Word's Can't Describe – The Tobias Song," she added and while the title was a bit silly he couldn't stop smiling and feel this incredible warmth spread through his chest.

It was spring when it began

You came and had a plan

To conquer me that was your goal

No longer two, but a whole.

I looked at you and gave us a chance

To share together an epic romance

All we needed was one first date

To find forever our own true soul mate.

Chorus:

Words can't describe what I feel

With each kiss we seal our deal

To be together forever and always

From now on until the end of days.

You stood by me when it got rough

And cheered me up with your marshmallow fluff

Your love was the balm to heal my soul

Pulling me out of that black hole.

I could spend forever telling you how I feel

It still seems to me this all is unreal

There aren't enough words to describe how much I love you

Oh gosh, whatever you did must be voodoo.

Chorus:

Words can't describe what I feel

With each kiss we seal our deal

To be together forever and always

From now on until the end of days.

But here are a few things just so you know

Things that make me love you, my beau

They might not rhyme, but they are true

Really, babe, they are just an overview.

I love your humor, I love your smile

I love your loyalty, I love your style

I even love it when we fight

I love it when we make love until the morning light.

I love it when you kiss me

I love it when you worship me

I love it when we sit on the couch

I love your every flaw, to that I vouch.

I love how you never take any crap

Which brings me to the next topic.

Let's get married, asap.

Chorus:

Words can't describe what I feel

With each kiss we seal our deal

To be together forever and always

From now on until the end of days.

A few more things and then I'm done

Falling in love with you was my home run

I want you whiny when you're sick

Cheesy little gifts do the trick.

I want you wild, I want you tender

In front of your love I will always surrender

I want to love you from dusk till dawn

And start all over, come on.

Chorus:

Words can't describe what I feel

With each kiss we seal our deal

To be together forever and always

From now on until the end of days.

I could try to write something better

But in the end it doesn't matter.

I love you today and I'll love you tomorrow.

I'll love you forever,

I love you, my lover.

After Tris finishes her song both of them have tears in their eyes. Her song was so much more than just an anniversary gift; it was a wedding vow and Tobias didn't miss it when she told him how ready she is to be Mrs. Tobias Eaton.

"I love you, Tris," he said, emotion thick in his voice.

"I love you, too, Tobias."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What did you think? Did you like the song?


	24. The first day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My dear initiates, this story is coming to it's end. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. In case I haven't answered something let me know. Users know that I can reply to them directly, but guests please use my Tumblr (even anonymously) so that I can answer whatever it is you wanted to know. Yes, I wrote all the song lyrics. This is the last chapter. Thank you so much for standing by me. Divergent Guardian is still continuing as well as the Kinky Series, albeit a bit slow. I have a few ideas for one-shots, but I'll see about that later. Thank you again for all your love and support. You are truly great.
> 
> Another shout out to my beta readers: PMakepeace98, Hplcgirl and DivergentPansycake46. Thank you, guys.  
> ♥♥♥
> 
> I also want to thank sweetwaterspice for helping me grow as a writer. Your strong support and hard kicks in my butt helped a lot and I'm looking forward to more.

To say that everyone looked at the engaged couple with wide eyes is an understatement. Tobias and Tris invited their entire family to eat at a fancy restaurant the weekend after their anniversary. They had an important announcement and wanted everyone to be present.

After Tris sang her love song to her betrothed they talked for a long while and decided to get married as soon a s possible. They were done (actually, Tris was done) waiting and making up excuses to delay their nuptials. So they decided to get married the first week of June.

Everyone at their table was shocked, speechless, even chocked on food or beverages when they announced that they wanted to get married soon.

Despite not wanting to get Natalie and Evelyn involved in the planning, both Tris and Tobias knew that they needed help. Shauna, Cara and Christina all wanted to help but Tris ignored them and told both her mother and future mother-in-law that they would elope in Vegas if anyone tried to ruin her day. Tris didn't care much about flowers or location or even her dress. All she wanted was to get married to the man she loved. They could have gotten married in their PJ's for all they cared. But the weeding was an important event, not just for their families, but also business associates.

The two matriarchs promised to respect the wishes of their children and coordinated with both of them. While the majority of their family bombarded Tobias with all kinds of questions, especially since they all knew by then that he would move to New York, Tris, Evelyn and Natalie sat aside and discussed details. Tobias and she wrote down a few things they wanted or didn't want at their wedding. Upon reviewing their list the two older women agreed and asked Tris to be available at least once a day to discuss certain details. Tris agreed but told both of them that she trusted them to make this day the happiest for Tris and her future husband. As the two women stood up and started talking enthusiastically about flowers and cakes Tris sighed and leaned back in her chair. Tobias joined her and took her hand in his.

"You okay?" he asked softly and she looked at him.

"Yeah. I just think I unleashed a beast with those two," she said tilting her head towards their mothers. Tobias chuckled.

"Look at it this way, babe. They have fun planning and we will enjoy it. Did they agree with our list?" he asked caressing her cheek.

"Yeah."

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. They asked that only the closest friends and the most important business associates attend the wedding and they should keep in mind Tris and her friends would be there too. Which meant, if they wanted things to go smoothly and not destroy some work relations they shouldn't invite too many boring people. Natalie and Evelyn had shared a look when Tris mentioned that and she wasn't sure if they would laugh, cry or heed her warning. It seemed they did the latter.

"Did you threaten them to go berserk if things wouldn't go according to our plan?" he asked amused and she laughed lightly. She only nodded. They talked the night before about it. The four youngest members of their families knew how to make a scene and not necessarily in a good way. But Tris and Tobias were also certain that they wouldn't. This was just a strategic maneuver to make their mothers slow down and not invite half the country.

"You sure you are okay with mom and Evelyn taking over?" she asked him apprehensive. After all, it was her idea to exclude them when they first got engaged.

"Sure, babe. Besides, they are excellent party planners. And I'm sure they'll respect our wishes. I am not really good at this and you frankly don't give a crap about center pieces or ice sculptures or whatnot," he pointed out. She nodded. He was right. When she first told him that she wouldn't allow their mothers to take over she thought that this day would be a long way down the road but with each passing day she got more excited about the idea of becoming Mrs. Tobias Eaton and thus less afraid. The fact that they would be living in New York made everything even better. They might move back to Chicago at some point, but for now they were happy. Living in the Big City meant Tris could finish college and work there, but more importantly, Tris could have some privacy. She loved her family, but they were sometimes too much. Especially, since they rekindled.

Unfortunately, they had to postpone their wedding for a week, because Marcus and Andrew had to attend an important meeting with a supplier in Japan.

Natalie and Evelyn kept their promise and organized a discreet yet glamorous wedding reception. Everything looked like a fairy tale setting and Tris had to admit it, they did a great job. At first she thought the older women would go overboard and stress her out, but both matriarchs did their best to ease Tris' nerves. Obviously, Joe Prior officiated the ceremony, Zeke was Tobias' best man, while Marlene was Tris' maid of honor. Caleb, Will and Uriah were groomsmen, while Shauna, Cara, Christina and Lynn were bridesmaids. Little Hunter was ring bearer and Andrew Prior, of course, escorted his youngest daughter down the aisle to hand her over to her future husband.

The ceremony was like a dream to Tris and Tobias, not so much for the romantic setting or the wonderful words Joe spoke about love, marriage and partnership. No, it was a dream because finally they would be together and while they were surrounded by so many people it was as if they were the only ones in that room, staring into each other's eyes, communicating without words how much they loved one another and how they always will.

Joe had to shake Tobias lightly to wake him out of his trance, since his gaze was fixed on hers. Normally, they were supposed to look ahead to the minister, but neither Tris nor Tobias could avert their gaze from the other. The guests chuckled when Tobias looked up with a small blush, realizing he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings, but got lost in his bride's eyes. Tris smiled softly at him and mouthed "I love you".

The pair decided to go with the classic wedding vows. Whatever else they had to say would be in private. They didn't need nor want anyone else to know. After Joe blessed the now married couple he gave Tobias the okay to kiss his bride and while initially he only pressed his lips softly to hers in a chaste kiss, he soon snaked his arms around her petite frame and pressed them together in a passionate open mouth kiss. Neither mind. They got lost and forgot anyone other even existed until the crowd started applauding and reluctantly they pulled apart. Tobias rested his forehead on hers and mouthed "I love you".

The reception was a little boring for the younger attendants. But leave it to Uriah to spice things up. He went on stage, grabbed a guitar and started playing a song. He obviously dedicated it to the happy couple and the guests were impressed by the young man's skill. After he was done Marlene got on stage and sang Celine Dion's "Because you loved me" which actually brought tears to Tris' eyes. Tobias pulled her in his lap and nuzzled her neck lovingly. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheeks. Next Zeke gave a speech, embarrassing the groom profusely by revealing how he drooled after Tris long before she even acknowledged his existence. Shauna wished her sister and her friend a happy and fulfilled marriage like she and Zeke shared. Will and Christina also spoke fondly of the two newlyweds followed by Caleb, who despite caring much for his friend warned him to take good care of his little sister or else. The crowd chuckled and laughed and applauded the big brother. Cara spoke lovingly about how Tris opened up to her and made her transition into their family much easier, despite not spending too much time at home. Lynn followed and sang "500 miles" by The Proclaimers. No one understood why, but the quartet knew and they laughed. It was the song they listened to when they first smoked pot and got wasted that the song embedded itself in their minds and haunted them for days after they sobered up. They decided then and there that it would be their own little theme song. No one but them knew the significance and they soon gave up finding out.

Cameron got on stage and after a nice little speech presented his wedding gift to the couple. An apartment just for the two of them in the same building the others lived. At first they wanted to refuse but Cameron insisted. Tobias and Tris both hugged the older man thanking him profusely for the gift. It meant a lot more than people might have realized. While the two lovers had their own little love nest, they were still near to Marlene, Uriah and Lynn.

Matt got on stage and made a few jokes, feeling that the mood became way too mushy. He told Tobias that if he ever needed a way to shut Tris up he had the perfect solution. Tobias looked skeptical at his friend and then Matt pulled out a duct tape from his jacket, which caused the crowd to laugh. Tris stood up, walked to the stage, embraced her cousin who kept smiling until she whispered something in his ear.

"Man, your wife is the greatest person who ever lived. She should talk some more. You are out of your mind if you keep her from talking," he rushed his words and everyone started laughing. Someone from the crowd yelled "what did you say to him?" and everyone laughed. Tris grinned and grabbed the acoustic guitar. She stood in front of the microphone and tuned the instrument before she looked up.

"This song is for my three best friends," she started saying before she looked back down. "It's untitled yet, 'cause you know, it just is," she said and people started laughing.

It's been a long path that we took,

Learned to face the bad and the good,

Together we walked through hell and back,

Pouring our souls into each track.

Chorus:

The wind has changed but we stay strong,

Because together that's where we belong,

We've been allies in every fight,

And in my heart I know it's right.

We've grown, but we stayed true,

Been each other's rock whenever things turned blue,

We love our folks but we're our own family,

Sorry mom and dad, but that's just reality.

Chorus:

The wind has changed but we stay strong,

Because together that's where we belong,

We've been allies in every fight,

And in my heart I know it's right.

You've been my shoulder whenever I've cried,

Been there for me when I almost died,

You've been my family and I've been yours,

And thankfully we all love Star Wars.

Chorus:

The wind has changed but we stay strong,

Because together that's where we belong,

We've been allies in every fight,

And in my heart I know it's right.

The wind has changed but we stay tall,

I love you guys, I love you all,

We were meant and we were true,

I thank God for each of you.

At the end of the song Marlene, Lynn and Uriah rushed to the stage and embraced their friend. The guests all applauded and some even whistled. All four of them had tears in their eyes, moved by the gesture but more importantly agreeing with the lyrics. Yeah, they've been through hell and back together and they were sure no matter where they were going they would always find each other. The relationship they shared was stronger than anyone outside could imagine.

It was true. They all came a long way, especially Tris. Sitting next to her new husband she admired silently everyone around her. She could now see that she was selfish growing up, spoiled and just mean sometimes. Her parents tried so much to be good with her and her siblings and all she did was cause them heartaches. She now understood that running away when she was sixteen wasn't right and she hurt her parents deeply, but at the same time she allowed them all to grow and really open up. She wanted to be a better daughter, a better sister, a better cousin and a friend. She tried each day to be better and even when she failed some days she could always try again tomorrow.

The experience with Drew taught her valuable lessons, but in retrospect it was just a station in her life. She would never forget it and she would never forgive him for using her that way and probably herself for being so stupid, but she learned. She thought back to Eric – sweet, kind Eric – who loved her devotedly and in silence, trying to be her friend despite his true feelings for her. She hurt him a lot and she only wished she would have had time to make it up to him. She visited his grave often. She would sit down and speak to him as if he was still there with her. She truly wished he was alive.

Tobias. He was everything to her. Kind, selfless, loving, understanding. She thought of buying a dictionary to look up more words to describe the love of her life, but somehow no amount of words could. He was her best friend, her confidant, her partner in crime, her lover, her husband and one day the father of her children. But what he truly is and always will be, her heart's melody.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: What do you think so far?


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